Ubisoft and cinema are far from being a great love story. The French publisher is however ready to try the adventure again now that Hollywood only has eyes for video games.
Video game adaptations are on the rise. In the coming months, even years, the most significant licenses in the industry will land on both the small and big screens. Prime Video’s Fallout series, expected for April 11, promises to be particularly faithful, while the Borderlands film should capture all the madness of the work if we rely on the first trailer. The list of projects is as long as an arm, to the point that we tend to forget those that are desired… like Watch Dogs for example.
Watch Dogs movie still in the works
Yes, a film is indeed in the works and it’s not so much news. It’s been a long time since Ubisoft announced its adaptation, without ever giving any sign of life. The bitter failure of the Assassin’s Creed film in the meantime has undoubtedly calmed its enthusiasm, but now that video games are trendy in Hollywood, the French publisher is ready to relaunch the project. According to the site Deadline reports that the film Watch Dogs has finally found a director after all these years. Cocorico, it will be the French Mathieu Turi (Gueules Noires, Lucy, Hostile), who is also working on the TV series A Plague Tale. At his side, we will find Christie Leblanc (Netflix’s Oxygen) writing the screenplay.
Ubisoft has clearly started the machine, since discussions for the main role are said to be at an advanced stage. This is the actress Sophie Wilde, noted for her roles in the horror film The hand and the Netflix series Everything Now, which would be anticipated. If the talks materialize, Ubisoft could well end with a very good headliner. The American media did not give further details, except that the Watch Dogs film will adapt the universe of the franchise which had its difficult beginnings 10 years ago already. Without getting too involved, we can assume that this adaptation will offer an original story inspired by the themes of the main games. From there to Aiden or Marcus passing a head, there is only one step.
The future of the license in the world of video games is more vague. The latest episode, Watch Dogs Legion, did not have the expected success when it was released in October 2020, pushing the publisher to stop its follow-up less than two years later. Knowing Ubisoft’s appetite for transmedia, it’s a safe bet that a new game is secretly in development to ride on the potential success of this film. Wait & see as someone else would say.