Games Workshop Shares Update On Henry Cavill And Prime Video's Live-Action Warhammer Plans
The latest update from Games Workshop regarding the status of its live-action series that is being made by Henry Cavill and Amazon MGM Studios reveals its all in Amazon’s hands.
The company’s most recent financial report states, “Our live action endeavour is still in development with our partners: Amazon MGM Studios, Henry Cavill and Vertigo. It is the nature of these things to take several years, and while we wish we could tie down a release the way we can with our core business, the reality is that, as with any licensing deal, delivery is not in our control. We leave it to our partners to manage their own businesses.”
There has not been a major update on the live-action side since Cavill announced the initiative back in December 2022. He said in a post to Instagram at the time, “For 30 years I have dreamt of seeing a Warhammer universe in live action. Now, after 22 years of experience in this industry, I finally feel that I have the skill set and experience to guide a Warhammer Cinematic Universe into life. Partnering with Natalie Viscuso at Vertigo has been a blessing beyond words, without her we might not have found the perfect home at Amazon. And having a home like Amazon will give us the freedom to be true to the massive scope of Warhammer. To all of you Warhammer fans out there, I promise to respect this IP that we love. I promise to bring you something familiar. And I endeavour to bring you something fantastic that is, as of yet, unseen.”
He added, “Our first steps are to find our Filmmaker/Creator/Writer. Watch this space, my friends.”
A year later, the company shared in a blog post that it had “signed the full agreement and the next stage can begin!”
“All we can tell you right now is that an elite band of screenwriters, each with their own particular passion for Warhammer, is being assembled to help bring the setting and characters you love to the screen. This illustrious group will be championed by Henry Cavill, who stands ready to take his place as executive producer - bringing his pen, sword and/or spear to the project,” the company added.
As for when anything would be released, the company predicted, “TV and Film production is a mammoth undertaking. It’s not unusual for projects to take two to three years from this point before something arrives on screen. Still, things are now properly rolling, and you can bet we’ll bring you all the latest updates and cool snippets as soon as we’re able.”
About half a year after that, Games Workshop revealed more details about the agreement in its 2024 Annual Report, which was released at the end of July in 2024, “Under the terms of the agreement, Games Workshop has granted exclusive rights to Amazon in relation to films and television series set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe, together with an option for Amazon to license equivalent rights in the Warhammer Fantasy universe following the release of the initial Warhammer 40,000 production.”
In fact, the company also noted that it was working with Amazon to “agree [to] creative guidelines for the films and television series to be developed by Amazon” and that “the agreement [would] only proceed if the creative guidelines are mutually agreed between Games Workshop and Amazon.”
The company came to terms with Amazon regarding the creative guidelines in December 2024 announcing in a blog post, “Games Workshop is pleased to announce that it has now agreed creative guidelines and reached a final agreement with Amazon Content Services LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., for the adaption of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe into films and television series, together with associated merchandising rights.”
In that same update it noted that it “may take a number of years” before anything was actually released.
In its 2025 Annual Report the company promised that Amazon and its other partners were “committed to present Warhammer authentically and at the scope and scale befitting our fantastical setting. This is a long-term partnership with Amazon and there won’t be any significant news in the short term - these things take several years to bring to market.”
While the updates have been few and far between, Cavill did hint at what the first live-action project might be when he shared a photo to social media of his bandaged and elevated foot that he injured while training for his role in the upcoming Highlander film.
The photo included a number of Warhammer including one from The Horus Heresy.
Cavill also shared William Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus, which was originally published in 1875, alongside the photo.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
The poem is connected to the Warhammer universe and the Ultramarine Captain Saul Invictus who led the Ultramarines’ 1st Company during the First Tyrannic War against the Tyrannid Hive Fleet Behemoth. He and the 1st company defended the Ultramarines’ homeworld, Macragge, and their sacrifice bought time for the Ultramarines to mount a counteroffensive and ultimately defeat the Hive Fleet Behemoth.
These events are primarily told in Codex: Ultramarines (2nd Edition) and the Battle for Macragge rulebook.
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