A Just Cause movie has been in development for a decade now - though it’s gone through various stages of development in that time - so what’s really happening with it? Video game movies have been around for many years, but while they haven’t always been critically or commercially successful, there’s never been a dearth in content worthy of adapting onto the big screen. And, thankfully, the landscape has changed to accompany more of these adaptations than perhaps ever before.
Around the time the Resident Evil series concluded in 2016, video game movies like Assassin’s Creed, Warcraft, Tomb Raider, and Rampage started to come out from major studios - and they’re performing better and better as the years go on. Last year, Detective Pikachu set the record for highest-grossing opening for a video game movie, a record that this year’s Sonic the Hedgehog has now broken, and ended as the second-highest-grossing video game movie of all-time, right behind Warcraft’s worldwide gross of $439 million. It’s clear that this is a genre worth keeping around and investing in.
With franchises like Uncharted, Mortal Kombat, and Monster Hunter receiving their own films in the near future, one has to wonder why the Just Cause movie hasn’t happened yet. In 2017, Jason Momoa signed on to play Just Cause game franchise protagonist Rico Rodriguez with Brad Peyton directing, but by 2018, a script hadn’t been completed yet and the story was still being worked out. Then in May 2019, right after John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum released in theaters, John Wick’s Derek Kolstad was hired to write and produce the Just Cause movie.
While there haven’t been any major movements on the adaptation reported since, hiring Kolstad shows that Constantin Films - the studio also behind the Resident Evil movies - certainly hasn’t forgotten about it. And when Kolstad was hired, reports indicated that Constantin was eyeing a production start sometime in 2020, which means the Just Cause movie could theoretically release as early as 2021, albeit later in the year. It’s unclear if Momoa and Peyton are both still attached to the adaptation, but if they aren’t, then Constantin will need to look for another star and director - though that’s not as big of an obstacle as one might think.
Story-wise, it was reported that the Just Cause movie would be reminiscent of the iconic and unique action-heavy games and see Rico hunt down the Black Hand, a mercenary group that’s appeared in every installment except the second one. Given that the Just Cause games are open-world and see Rico in high-octane action sequences that involve fast cars, explosions, diverse characters, and of course, a grappling hook, this is exactly the type of film that would fall in line with the rejuvenated and ever-expanding Bad Boys and Fast and Furious series. Considering that both of those franchises have been performing overwhelmingly well at the box office, it stands to reason that Just Cause would do just as fine too.
Next: Why Sonic The Hedgehog’s Box Office Was So Much Better Than Expected
