‘The Elder Scrolls’ TV Series Will Never Happen Because of ‘Lord of the Rings’

It’s looking likely that Bethesda Game Studios’ beloved video game saga, The Elder Scrolls, will never be adapted for TV. Consisting of five releases up to now; 1994’s Arena, 1996’s Daggerfall, 2002’s Morrowind, 2006’s Oblivion, and 2011’s Skyrim, with a sixth in active production since 2023, this fantastical series seemingly suffers from an overcrowded market when it comes to taking the cross-medium leap.

That’s according to Skyrim‘s lead designer Bruce Nesmith, who recently spoke to PressBoxPR about Bethesda’s other fan-favorite title, Fallout, which has been transformed into a phenomenal post-apocalyptic show on Prime Video. Nesmith conceded that although an Elder Scrolls adaptation would win extra attention for Bethesda’s PlayStation/Xbox/Windows output, there’s nothing particularly original about this universe compared to the many existing franchises in the same genre.

“There’s something very special and different and unique about Fallout that lends itself to becoming a TV or movie experience, whereas The Elder Scrolls is trying to be a standard kind of fantasy. That’s not as interesting, not in this day and age where you already have the Lord of the Rings movies. We’ve got Game of Thrones. You’d have to try to find something to lean into that would be special about it.

“There is nothing like the Fallout universe anywhere else in gaming. That makes it easy to make a TV show and draw eyeballs as opposed to going into a fantasy world where I’ve got elves and people throwing spells around. You’d have to raise those stakes. There’s a dragon? I’ve seen dragons 20 times before. What are you giving to viewers that’s new? Different media have different needs and I don’t know that The Elder Scrolls would fit that media well. Maybe a movie, but I would struggle to see a TV show.”

Ironically, this is where Lord of the Rings mastermind Peter Jackson enters the conversation. Back in 2016, Bethesda’s marketing executive Peter Hines claimed that the company’s higher-ups would only be tempted to do an Elder Scrolls movie if the New Zealander walked into their office with a pitch.

Is ‘Fallout’ Prime Video’s Golden Goose?

The Ghoul looking at someone in Fallout.

Fresh from signing off its second season with a finale titled “The Strip” this week, Fallout has fast become Prime Video’s most prized possession while the streamer’s J.R.R Tolkien series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is off the air. When it comes to the all-important Rotten Tomatoes rating, that’s where this nuclear wasteland really flexes its muscles: boasting 93% (Season 1) and 96% (Season 2) compared to Rings‘ 84% (both seasons).

What’s eye-catching about Fallout is also its broader appeal. According to Amazon, 53% of the Season 2 audience is made up of international viewers, with significant clicks recorded in the UK, Germany, and Brazil. For men aged between 18 and 34, it’s even one of the platform’s Top 5 most-watched seasons of TV. Season 3 is already being written.