It is a big day for Payday. The heist-game franchise turned up in Fortnite earlier on Monday, and now Starbreeze Entertainment has announced a television adaptation — with Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson signed on as executive producer through his G-Unit Film & Television banner. The project is being developed in partnership with Vice Studios, the production company behind Gangs of London.
The deal, first disclosed in a press release dated 10 August 2026, formally brings G-Unit into a project that was already in development. Starbreeze and Vice Studios had announced their collaboration to adapt Payday “for audiences beyond games, across screen and other formats” back in March 2026. 50 Cent’s involvement is the latest and most high-profile addition to that arrangement.
What the Deal Actually Covers
The three-way partnership involves Starbreeze Entertainment (the developer and rights holder for the Payday franchise), Vice Studios (handling production), and G-Unit Film & Television (executive producing). All three confirmed the arrangement in simultaneous statements, with Starbreeze CEO Adolf Kristjansson setting the tone: “Curtis and G-Unit don’t do subtle, and neither do we. This is not about playing safe; it’s about doing the franchise justice with people who are as immersed in the world as we are.”
Vice Studios president Amy Powell put it more succinctly: “Vice has always been drawn to stories that live outside the lines, and Payday is exactly that kind of world. G-Unit understands what makes Payday tick, and they’re bringing a perspective that’s true to the franchise without playing it safe.”
What the project will look like in practice is still unclear. It has been confirmed as a television series, but no writer, no network, and no streaming platform is currently attached. It is, at this stage, a deal rather than a finished commission — though with the names involved, it won’t stay that way for long.
Why Payday and 50 Cent Are a Natural Fit
The Payday series — across Payday: The Heist, Payday 2, and 2023’s Payday 3 — is built on the premise of violent, high-energy bank robberies carried out by a crew of masked career criminals. The tone has always been closer to a stylised action film than a realistic simulation, which makes the leap to television less of a stretch than it might initially appear.
50 Cent has spent the last decade building one of the more credible independent television production operations in the business. His work on Power, the Starz crime drama that ran from 2014 to 2020, demonstrated that he understood how to build audience loyalty around a long-running crime story. The Power franchise has since expanded with several spinoffs, including Power Book II: Ghost. His more recent Fightland — a boxing drama that launched on Starz in 2026 — shows that appetite for the work hasn’t slowed.
“G-Unit Film & TV has built cinematic crime stories that connect with audiences around the world. Teaming up with Starbreeze and Vice Studios gives us the chance to build something big, a high-energy franchise that pushes the heist genre forward.” — Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson
No Writer or Network Yet — But the Project Is Moving
The practical next steps for any television series are securing a writer and then a home — either a traditional network or a streaming platform. Neither is currently attached to the Payday series. That’s not unusual at this stage of development, particularly for projects with high-profile producers already signed; the names attached often help attract writing talent and network interest in the rounds that follow.
What’s notable here is that the project already has two announcements — the initial March deal and now the 50 Cent addition — without a broadcaster in place. That suggests Starbreeze and Vice are building out the creative and executive team before taking it to market, which is a common approach for adaptations of known IP. Payday has an existing fanbase, a clear aesthetic, and a genre (heist crime) that has proven television appeal. The pieces are in place. It now needs a writer and a platform.
For Starbreeze, a successful television adaptation would be a meaningful diversification of a franchise that has had a mixed commercial run in recent years. Payday 3 launched in 2023 to a difficult reception, making a strong screen debut all the more useful for the brand.
