Remedy Entertainment has made some of the most cinematic video games to ever grace the medium. Starting with Max Payne in 2001 and its sequel Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne two years later, it was clear that the Finnish studio wanted to tell intricate and powerful stories in a way that was rare at the time. Those two games told the neo-noir story of NYPD officer Max Payne trying to solve his family's murder. However, it would take almost a decade before they would follow up their critically-acclaimed Max Payne series with a new project.

In 2010, after a troubled development that involved scrapping the entire game midway through, Remedy Entertainment released Alan Wake. While the game sold poorly, especially compared to the successful Max Payne franchise, Alan Wake reviewed well and became a cult classic. The game eventually gained enough fans that it was viable last to remaster the original game and announce a sequel, Alan Wake II, last year.

In the midst of all of this Alan Wake news, it would've been easy to miss that there was also a TV show being developed at AMC based on the game. Revealed in a celebration of the game's twelfth anniversary by its director, Sam Lake, there is very little known about the project. Lake only shared that Remedy and AMC have "been collaborating on making a TV show happen," but he had "[n]othing more to share at the moment." While we eagerly await Alan Wake II's 2023 release, let's look back at the first game, Remedy's previous experience with television, and what the show might look like.

The Town of Bright Falls

Alan Wake
Remedy Entertainment

Let's start with a spoiler-free look at the world of Alan Wake. The original and main game tells the story of the titular character, Alan Wake, a novelist dealing with writer's block. Alan's wife, Alice, takes him on a trip to the quaint town of Bright Falls to try and help him with his creative issues, despite Alan's protests. Things go awry after some supernatural shenanigans cause Alice to go missing. Now, Alan must fight off possessed citizens of the town with a flashlight and gun to save his wife.

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Alan Wake's American Nightmare was released as a follow-up to the original in 2012, but it lacked much of a story and hasn't even been confirmed as canon. The most recent entry into the Alan Wake series was actually in a different game. Remedy's Control from 2019 featured downloadable content that explored Alan's current whereabouts. Between all of this and the upcoming sequel, there is plenty of material to base the TV show off of.

Multimedia Storytelling

Alan Wake
Remedy Entertainment

Despite Remedy being a video game studio, this is far from their first foray into the live-action space. Alan Wake itself had an in-universe Twilight Zone homage called Night Springs, while real footage was integrated into Control in a variety of different ways. Even Max Payne had comic panels with photographs of people to tell the story. However, these all pale in comparison to 2016's Quantum Break, which was both a video game and TV show in a single package.

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Quantum Break was a unique attempt at multimedia storytelling, with its narrative being told across both mediums equally. Reception to the concept was mixed at the time, with some criticizing the disconnect between the two halves, but they really did swing for the fences with the project. The production values, while not cable TV quality, were up there with any CW show. The cast featured relatively big names like Lance Reddick, Aidan Gillen, and Dominic Monaghan, among others. Remedy's previous experience with television should make adapting Alan Wake a familiar process for the company.

Twin Peaks-Inspired Pacific Northwest

Alan Wake
Remedy Entertainment

Alan Wake was unafraid to wear its influences on its sleeve, so we can get an idea about what the show might look like using those reference points. While The Twilight Zone and the works of Stephen King had a significant impact on Alan Wake, Twin Peaks' first two seasons served as the main inspiration for the game. The show's revival hadn't happened yet when the game was released in 2010, but the game's quirky yet creepy Pacific Northwest setting is clearly inspired by the first iteration of David Lynch's masterpiece. There's a good chance that AMC's Alan Wake will look like an amalgamation of these different influences, which could make for very compelling television.

The Alan Wake TV show is incredibly early in development, to the point where it might never even come to fruition. Even if it does, the current lack of information makes it hard to envision what it might look like. However, the game's compelling story, singular tone, iconic inspirations, and Remedy's prior experience with episodic content all indicate that Alan Wake will be worth a watch if it manages to make its way onto AMC.