In 2011, Payday: The Heist debuted with an all-new type of video game where players could position themselves as the lead of a bank robbery. Since then, the PAYDAY series has achieved global success over the past fifteen years, with three main games across platforms. Each of the titles focused on cinematic heists, extreme violence, and stories of betrayal, corruption, and crime; it has also continuously served an audience of 50 million players, all of which means it’s ripe for an adaptation in another medium. Back in March of this year, VICE Studios and Starbreeze Entertainment announced plans for a TV series, and now the show just got its best update.
Confirmed today in a press release, Grammy Award-winning rapper and media mogul 50 Cent was announced as an executive producer via his G-Unit Film & Television banner for the upcoming adaptation of the Overkill Software game. Jackson, known as the executive producer on the Power franchise and the crime drama BMF, had this to say: “G-Unit Film & TV has built cinematic crime stories that connect with audiences around the world. Teaming up with Vice Studios and bringing the world of ‘Payday’ to the screen gives us the chance to build something big, a high-energy franchise that pushes the heist genre forward.”
The PAYDAY TV series currently has no attached writer or showrunner, but using the games as an inspiration promises that the series will be anything but mundane. Every team involved with it looks to deliver the series’ action and promises to fulfill fans’ expectations, with Starbreeze Entertainment CEO Adolf Kristjansson adding: “PAYDAY has always been about the fantasy of getting away with it. Curtis and G-Unit don’t do subtle, and neither do we. This is not about playing it safe; it’s about doing the franchise justice with people who are as immersed in the world as we are.”
The PAYDAY series is a first-person shooter franchise in which players control a masked protagonist who orchestrates high-stakes heists and robberies while facing law enforcement. No force is too much for them to handle and no score is too big for them to take. As the games evolved, so too did the capabilities of what players could pull off and what kind of weapons and fear they could equip, something that is ripe for a TV series to explore, especially as (we assume) its characters get involved in bigger and more elaborate robberies.
“VICE has always been drawn to stories that live outside the lines, and PAYDAY is exactly that kind of world,” said Amy Powell, President of VICE Studios. “G-Unit understands what makes PAYDAY tick, and they’re bringing a perspective that’s true to the franchise without playing it safe.”
Payday marks another new venture for VICE Studios, which is aiming for distinct voices and high-impact adaptations, such as the just-announced Guy Ritchie crime series, Capital, and an adaptation of Anika Jade Levy’s critically acclaimed debut novel Flat Earth. The PAYDAY TV Series currently has no attached network, but with an EP like 50 Cent behind it, steam is likely going to pick up soon regarding its development.
