FX's New Series Based On An Iconic Video Game Is Rambo Meets Escape From New York

Published Sep 17, 2026, 6:01 PM EDT Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020. The news that Alien: Earth creator Noah Hawley’s next show is effectively discarding its source material in favor of a mix of Rambo and Escape From New York is secretly great for the franchise. It has been over a decade since FX’s surreal crime anthology show Fargo proved that Noah Hawley can be trusted to reinvent almost any intellectual property, but the Alien: Earth show runner still faces resistance from some doubters. With Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil shaping up to be a hit for the Weapons director, there has never been a better time for a visionary director to take a fresh look at a famous video game franchise. Hit shows like Fallout and The Last of Us have already proven that video game streaming shows can be critical darlings, and Hawley’s upcoming mix of Rambo and Escape From New York hopes to replicate this success. However, the writer/ director has already been clear about his plans to move beyond the source material. Originally beginning with the same of the same name in 2004, the Far Cry franchise is a colossally successful first-person shooter series with a difference. Taking place in a lawless wasteland, the Far Cry games often utilize elements of supernatural horror and sci-fi, but just as frequently eschew these plot elements entirely in favor of more straightforward and grounded action thrills. What all the games have in common, however, is their shared stories of wilderness survivors battling despotic tyrants using guerrilla warfare tactics. Noah Hawley's Far Cry Not Adapting Any Of The Games Is A Big Risk To date, there are six main Far Cry games and numerous spinoff titles, with a total of 13 games in the franchise. Since the games don’t have specific main characters, settings, or plot elements in common, it would be tough for any creator to decide which parts of them to bring to life onscreen. However, Hawley has already made the daring decision not to adapt any specific game in his upcoming FX adaptation, co-created with Rob McElhenney. Set to star Lizzy Caplan and Steve Buscemi, Far Cry is set to be an anthology show. It is not yet clear whether the series will be a single-episode anthology like The Twilight Zone or Shudder's Creepshow, wherein the cast, characters, setting, and story change with each new episode, or a single-season anthology like American Horror Story, Slasher, or Hawley’s earlier Fargo, wherein these elements change once per season. Regardless of which approach the creators take, Hawley’s decision not to adapt a specific game from the franchise is a bold one. That said, it is one that is likely to pay off, judging by his small screen pedigree. Fargo managed to bring the quirky, offbeat sensibility of the original crime thriller to television in its first season, only to add elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and surrealism to subsequent seasons. Alien: Earth Suggests You Shouldn't Expect A Conventional Far Cry Story By its fifth outing, some critics even suggested that Hawley’s daring take on Fargo had outdone the original 1996 movie, and his Alien spinoff Alien: Earth is almost universally agreed to be the strongest single installment in the franchise since 1986’s Aliens. Alien: Earth made the bold choice to ignore the canon of both the Alien Vs Predator movies and original Alien director Ridley Scott’s 2012 prequel Prometheus, creating its own original story instead. The fact that Alien: Earth was such a triumph proves that Far Cry is in good hands. Meanwhile, the franchise’s status as a blend of Rambo and Escape to New York should be heartening for any fans worried about the show. After all, both of these franchises produced iconic original movies, only to then slide into critical failure after their first outings. If Rambo and Escape to New York had taken a leaf from Alien: Earth creator Hawley’s Far Cry adaptation and changed into anthology franchises, they may have fared better with critics in the long run. Network Hulu Directors Noah Hawley Writers Noah Hawley, Rob Mac Cast Creator(s) Rob Mac, Noah Hawley