Video game adaptations are on a tear — we got new trailers for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the Halo live-action TV series just last week. And of course, Chris Pratt is playing Mario, and an Uncharted movie is nearly here. Amid these heavy hitters comes the news that Netflix is ready to bring us another franchise as well: Mega Man, the Capcom “blue bomber” who’s been blasting his way through retro side-scrollers since 1987 on the original NES.
Technically, a Mega Man movie’s been in the works since 2015 at Chernin Entertainment, and it became a little more formal in 2018 when Capcom officially announced it’d be a live-action film (!) with Henry Joost and Rel Schulman, perhaps best known for Catfish, attached to write and direct. But recently, that directing duo revealed on their Supermarché company website that Netflix has picked up the picture (via Comicbook and IGN).
“Features in the works include: an adaptation of Capcom’s MEGA MAN for Chernin Entertainment and Netflix, which they wrote and are directing,” the site reads.
Unfortunately, there’s no indication of how far along the movie is or when it might release. (IGN writes that sources say it’s very early in development.) But as some have pointed out, Netflix has a first-look deal with Chernin; perhaps Netflix saw something that it liked. Netflix and Supermarché didn’t immediately have comment.
The gold rush to secure video game intellectual property for Hollywood adaptation goes far beyond the films and shows I’ve mentioned so far, of course, and Netflix has definitely seen the potential thanks to the performance of its The Witcher and Castlevania series. Netflix has Resident Evil and Tomb Raider shows in the works, too, and is reportedly in development on a live-action Pokémon series as well. It generally sees a lot of potential in gaming, even vis-a-vis snapping up film studios itself.
Outside of Netflix, we recently had Monster Hunter and Mortal Kombat movies, there’s a The Last of Us TV show for HBO, maybe a Mass Effect show for Amazon, a Fallout show that’s definitely for Amazon, plus Ghost of Tsushima and Metal Gear Solid movie adaptations. The Portal movie might even be happening someday.
We’ve come a long way since Uwe Boll, that’s all I’m saying.