It’s been a few months since fans got to re-enter the explosive and action-packed world of Rico Rodriguez’s mercenary rebellions and now fans may get to experience the Just Cause universe in a whole new way as John Wick creator Derek Kolstad has signed on to pen a film adaptation of the video game, according to The Hollywood Reporter
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The game series, developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Square Enix, began in 2010 and has followed secret agent Rico Rodriguez as he travels to a new nation in each installment controlled by a dictatorship as he works to bring them down and end the fighting between multiple factions across the island, which has been based on real locations in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the Mediterranean and South America.
The third-person action shooter offered fans something different by attaching a grappling hook to Rico’s arm, giving players a chance to latch on to helicopters, planes and cars across the islands while also tethering enemies together or explosive items together for grandiose blasts and creative fun in the open-world settings.
A film adaptation of Just Cause has been in the works for almost ten years now, with one incarnation set to be written by comic book author Bryan Edward Hill, another set to be apart of a shared universe of Square Enix film adaptations beginning with Hitman: Agent 47 and other adaptations of Tomb Raider, Deux Ex and Thief, but following the middling box office results of Hitman and Tomb Raider setting up its own franchise at Warner Bros., plans were put on hold for the universe.
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The most recent attempt at a film adaptation of the action game series came in 2017 when Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa signed on to star as Rico and Rampage‘s Brad Peyton was tapped to direct, but after a year of signing on, Peyton admitted that no script existed for the project and he and Momoa had full schedules well into 2019, leaving the production in doubt.
Kolstad, who created the massive hit action franchise John Wick, which just released the third installment that dethroned Avengers: Endgame from the box office lead, will pen the adaptation and will produce it alongside Constantin Films’ Robert Kulzer and Prime Universe Film’s Adrian Askarieh, with Square Enix attached to executive produce the project.
