Epic Games May Make Fortnite Movie as Part of Entertainment Expansion

Character actors from Fortnite dance during the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in 2019. Photo by Bloomberg.

Mathew Olson

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Jessica Toonkel

Epic Games is considering launching an entertainment division focused on scripted video programming, said people familiar with the situation. The maker of hit videogame Fortnite is looking to diversify amid legal battles with Apple and Google that have hurt its ability to expand in the mobile market.

The division could develop projects including a feature film based on Fortnite, the people said. Such a film has already been discussed. Planning for the entertainment division follows the hiring in 2021’s first two months of several executives from Lucasfilm, including Jason McGatlin, formerly vice president of Physical Production at Lucasfilm and now president of Special Projects at Epic. McGatlin was executive producer of all the “Star Wars” films released under Disney. Other hires from Lucasfilm are Lynn Bartsch, Epic’s head of Business Affairs, and Chris Furia, Epic’s vice president of Production Finance, according to the executives’ LinkedIn profiles.