Long before we ever had a Minecraft Movie or word of a sequel, an entire trilogy of movies dedicated to Mortal Kombat or the Nintendo Cinematic Universe (NCU), one of the most requested video games for film adaptations was Sleeping Dogs. And for a while it looked like it was going to be a reality, until things finally got stuck.
However, fans of the Hong Kong action game got an exciting update earlier this year when Simu Liu, who is best known as Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, revealed that he was in talks with the rights holders to try and bring Sleeping Dogs to the big screen.
Fast forward to today and Liu has shared on social media that the first draft of a potential adaptation of the 2012 game is finally done. Liu shared a screenshot of the script along with his own sleeping dog.
There are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to sleeping dogs
Parts of the script are unfortunately blurred, including who wrote the script, as well as some other key identifying information, namely potentially who would star or direct it. Either way, it represents a massive development for an adaptation that many thought was largely DOA.
In a follow-up post, Liu noted that Square Enix is ”absolutely brilliant” when it comes to working out the rights, while noting that “the studios don't seem to understand how important this IP is, BUT we're going to get them there.”
This last bit will probably serve as the film's biggest hurdle. Even though we're in the golden age of video game adaptations, where so many titles are being adapted into movies, animated series, or TV shows that a Sleeping Dogs movie will still require a studio willing to back it, and even though we have no idea which studios pitched the film, it's clear from Liu's own words that it was hard to find a bite.
Since there is an actual script, the making of the adaptation is more than a concept, maybe things will turn around pretty quickly. Here is hope.
- Released
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August 14, 2012
- ESRB
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M For Adults 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Drug Use
- Developers
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United Front Games
- Engine
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Havoc
