Filmmaker and fan Jonathan Nolan brings ‘Fallout’ games to TV

Starring Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Walton Goggins and Kyle MacLachlan among others, the series premieres on Prime Video on April 11

Jonathan Nolan attends the UK special screening of “Fallout” at the Television Centre on April 04, 2024, in London, England. | Photo Credit: GARETH CATTERMOLE

Filmmaker Jonathan Nolan says he was both nervous and excited to adapt the popular post-apocalyptic video game series Falloutfor television.

"(It was) intimidating, honestly, and the reason why is that I had played the games and loved them," Nolan said as he premiered the new TV show in London on Thursday.

The eight-episode live-action show comes from husband-and-wife duo Nolan and Lisa Joy, who previously created the hit series Westworld. It centres on three main characters; vault dweller Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), Maximus, a member of the Brotherhood of Steel (Aaron Moten) and mutated bounty hunter The Ghoul (Walton Goggins).

(L-R) Kyle MacLachlan, Executive Producer James Altham, Aaron Moten, Director Jonathan Nolan, Ella Purnell, Executive Producer Graham Wagner, Executive Producer Todd Howard, Executive Producer Athena Wickham, Xelia Mendes-Jones and Walton Goggins attend the UK Special Screening of “Fallout” presented by Amazon MGM Studios & Prime Video at White City Television Centre on April 04, 2024, in London, England. | Photo Credit: JEFF SPICER

Set in the wasteland of Los Angeles some 200 years after a nuclear armageddon, it sees Lucy resurfacing from the vaults for the first time in her life and leaning on her skills, wits, and values to survive in a world very different from hers. Traversing the hostile terrain in search of her father (Kyle MacLachlan), Lucy crosses paths with Maximus and The Ghoul, each on a mission of their own.

Nolan, who co-wrote several of his brother Christopher Nolan's films, including Interstellar and The Dark Knight, also directed the show's first three episodes. "I think it's very similar to the games in the sense that each game in the franchise connects to this larger universe but each game has a new setting, a new set of characters and a new story. And just like that, our series is a new story with new characters but set in this larger universe," Nolan, 47, said.

"For myself, the fun of it was having loved the games and being passionate about them, I was excited to try to bring reality in terms of large on-location impactful photography and building all the creatures, building all the stunts, the power armour ... It was just like being a kid in a candy shop."

Fallout starts streaming on Prime Video on April 11.