Live-Action Final Fantasy 14 Show Is "Dead"

The Final Fantasy 14 show will no longer see the light of day, unfortunately. Final Fantasy is one of the biggest video game franchises out there and yet, it has never had any kind of notable live action adaptation. There are plenty of animated Final Fantasy films and even some books, but no one has had the courage to try and bring it all to life. It had been previously announced that some folks would take a crack at making a Final Fantasy 14 live-action TV show, which is particularly interesting since its an MMO and not a single-player game like other Final Fantasy titles. However, it has been silent for quite some time now.

Sadly, five years later, the project has been scrapped. Despite a partnership between Hivemind and Sony Pictures having been announced, it will not result in a Final Fantasy 14 show. Hivemind co-founder Dinesh Shamdasani confirmed that the project is "dead" when asked by a fan and they had been developing a multi-season plan, but it was rejected by every company it was pitched to. Amazon supposedly came closest, but it seems like the budget was a limiting factor and no one was willing to invest the amount needed to do it right. Producer Jake Thorton cited COVID as a possible reason for it not being able to work: "It was a real result of COVID-19 unfortunately. We took it out just as studios began to zip up their purse strings."

"We took around a fantastic pilot script by Ben Lustig and [Jake Thornton] along with a multi-season plan they built with our show runners but got rejected across the board," said Shamdasani. "The size and scale needed to do it right proved too much for anyone to want to risk. Amazon came closest."

It was a real result of Covid unfortunately. We took
It out just as studios began to zip up their purse strings.

— Jake Thornton 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@jakethornton) January 24, 2024

With gaming adaptations being bigger than ever, maybe we will get to see a live-action Final Fantasy happen one of these days. It likely won't be this version of Final Fantasy 14, it would likely be something completely different with a totally different group of talent behind it. There's no denying the power of Final Fantasy and with gaming adaptations becoming award-winning projects that are commecrial hits, it seems bound to happen any day now.