“John Wick” and “Deadpool 2” director David Leitch recently signed on to helm a movie adaptation of the online action-role-playing game “Tom Clancy’s The Division.” Video game movies are notoriously lousy. So, is Leitch worried? Yes and no, he told Collider in an interview published on Thursday.
“They’re two different experiences,” he said. “Obviously the video game, you’re telling your own story and it’s so active, and cinema is all about one person’s point of view guiding a story, you’re telling a story. I think sometimes those things are in conflict, but on a project like ‘The Division,’ again it’s like there’s these bigger themes in there that you can pull one out and attach some great characters to and you can have a compelling story, and also given the trappings of the world that people love, I think you can deliver a good movie.”
Developed and published by Ubisoft, “The Division” launched on PC and consoles in March 2016. It’s set in New York City, where agents are investigating a deadly pandemic. It currently has over 20 million players and is the fastest-selling new IP in gaming history.
Leitch said it was the world of “The Division” that initially drew him to the project. It asks some interesting questions about society, he said. “For me, I thought that was a cool playground.”
Right now, Leitch said the script is still in development and producers are looking for writers. He’s currently working on a “Fast and the Furious” spinoff, so it could be a while before “The Division” makes its way to theaters. Actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain are set to star in the film.