Legendary Entertainment is developing an adaptation of the Duke Nukem video game franchise after acquiring the rights from Gearbox, and have tapped Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg to produce the movie.
Duke Nukem launched in 1991 and revolves around the titular L.A.-based action hero who looks to fend off an alien invasion. The franchise set the bar for first-person shooter titles with its groundbreaking design and technical achievements, and has generated over $1 billion in revenue. The franchise’s most recent release was 2011’s Duke Nukem Forever.
Hurwitz and Schlossberg have previously worked on the Harold & Kumar franchise and other comedies such as Blockers and American Reunion, and Heald penned Hot Tub Time Machine, so this will be something slightly different for them, although the Duke Nukem series does have its fair share of humour.
But the trio have had success with Netflix’s Cobra Kai, a sequel series to the original Karate Kid films. That show naturally has a good amount of action in it, so the skills they honed there will likely come in handy with Duke Nukem.
Gone are the days where video game adaptations were considered cursed. The success of movies such as Detective Pikachu and Sonic The Hedgehog have led to plenty of game adaptations getting the greenlight.
Netflix currently have a Bioshock film in the works, Chad Stahelski is developing a Ghosts Of Tsushima adaptation, HBO have The Last Of Us series coming soon, and Amazon are working on a God Of War series adaptation. Expect plenty more to follow if any of those are major successes.
#Peace.Love.DukeNukem
