"What are you waiting for? Christmas?"
After decades of toying with the idea of adapting the iconic '90s video game franchise, it appears Hollywood may actually be getting a Duke Nukem movie off the ground!
Legendary Entertainment, the company behind Dune, Mortal Kombat and the new Godzilla movie series, has picked up the movie rights from Gearbox, The Hollywood Reporter lets us know this afternoon.
"Cobra Kai" creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg are on board to produce under their banner, Counterbalance Entertainment. Legendary will also produce, as will Jean Julien Baronnet (Assassin’s Creed) of Marla Studios.
The site also offers up a Duke Nukem history lesson, "Launched with a self-titled debut in 1991 from Apogee Software, later called 3D Realms, Nukem is $1 billion video game franchise that began life as a platform game for personal computers. When the third game, Duke Nukem 3D, came out in 1996, it became not only a critical hit but one that helped usher in the ubiquity of first-person games for years to come. After laying low for years and stalled development, the franchise came back in 2011, after Gearbox acquired 3D Realms, with Duke Nukem Forever."
"Nukem centers on its titular hero, modeled on certain attributes from 1980s action movies heroes (including catchphrases), who fights an alien invasion in Los Angeles. He travels from strip clubs and movie sets to moon bases and spaceships, dealing with mutated LAPD officers, women used in alien incubators, and the Cycloid Emperor."
Various producers have tried to adapt the franchise since the '90s, but every attempt stalled out rather early in development. As you may recall, Gearbox most recently had a Duke Nukem project in the works at Paramount around five years ago. John Cena was attached to star in the lead role, but the project was also abandoned.
The Duke Nukem film currently doesn't have a writer or director attached to the project, but THR notes that "the door is open for one of the Counterbalance team to potentially sit behind the camera."
Stay tuned for more details as we learn them.
Comments