You may have forgotten, but in 2012, a project to adapt Deus Ex: Human Revolution in film floated in the corridors of Hollywood. And it was Scott Derricksondirector of the first film Doctor Strange and of Sinisterwho was to take charge of the project, along with C.Robert Cargill to the script. Unfortunately, this was never completed, in particular because Derrickson left to take care of the adventures of Stephen Strange, but we now know what this aborted project could have looked like, at least in part.
Without its director, the project was buried
USA Today sends us today excerpts from scripts of the abandoned film Deus Ex, putting some things in context. The site recalls that the filming of Doctor Strange forced Derrickson to step away from the project (the funny thing is that we can just imagine Benedict Cumberbatch as Adam Jensen), and without him, the adaptation began to fall apart .
Scott Kinney, executive development at Prime Universe Productions also speaks of the reluctance of the studio (CBS) in charge of the project, while regretting that the film did not see the light of day:
” I’m really, really sad that CBS Films fumbled on this project because I believe Scott would have taken Deus Ex to finally make the first really good video game film adaptation. Their amazing work [à Derrickson et Cargill] on Marvel’s Doctor Strange movie, which should/could have been the Deus Ex movie, implemented a “more than human” theme in a deft way that translated well into an action movie- adventure for a mass audience. Substitute the mysticism of Doctor Strange for the theme of transhumanism of Deus Ex, and we felt like we had all the ingredients for a movie that could have been memorable.or at worst, ahead of its time. »
Kinney also shared part of the script for this abandoned project, which you can read on the USA Today site (provided you are not allergic to English). We read there dialogs and action scenes featuring Adam Jensen, which were written in partnership with Eidos Montreal :
” Everything we’ve written to present to studio executives has been sent to game developers for feedback. Same for the screenplay, we received their notes on each version of the screenplay. Everyone seemed happy with the end result. Everybody. And that’s the saddest thing. »
A beautiful project that is now dead and buried, a bit like the video game series, which unfortunately we have more news, especially since Eidos Montreal is busy on other projects.