News about another video game adaptation can either be exciting or worrying, but this time it sounds pretty nova. An exclusive from Deadline reports that a live-action movie based on Cyberpunk 2077 is in the works at Paramount Pictures, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura set to produce.
Cyberpunk 2077 is the award-winning, best-selling RPG developed by Poland-based game studio CD Projekt Red, based on the larger Cyberpunk universe that originated from Mike Pondsmith's cult-classic TTRPG. In the open-world video game, players take the role of "V," a mercenary (also called an edgerunner or cyberpunk) who ends up with a brain-eating chip in their brain, which contains the digitized mind of legendary rockerboy Johnny Silverhand. V must find a way to untangle their minds before the chip consumes their brain, while also fighting off the Arasaka Corporation, which designed it.
Players can choose their gender, sex, origins, and how they interact with other characters in the world. The setting, Night City, a corporate-run state, changes based on what the player does. It's unlikely we may get a canon V with set outcomes, but it's not impossible. The Baldur's Gate 3 TV show will apparently try a canon ending from Larian Studios' award-winning game (without the game writers' input), so it's not impossible that the Cyberpunk film will take a similar route.
However, Cyberpunk 2077 has already been successfully adapted into a motion picture of sorts. Japanese animators at Studio Trigger partnered with CD Projekt Red to produce Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a critically acclaimed anime streaming exclusively on Netflix, with a second season on the way. It features new characters we never see in the video game, save for Adam Smasher. The Cyberpunk world has already proven it excels at telling stories in Night City that deepen our understanding of the dystopian, crime-riddled, cyberpsycho-infested streets. It doesn't have to connect directly. But there is a possibility we could see characters like Johnny Silverhand (Keanu Reeves) or Solomon Reed (Idris Elba) played by their real actors, who were the basis for their game models.
It was impressive enough that the game translated into animation so well, but as a live-action movie, with possible practical cybernetics and costumes, it could blow audiences' minds like a fried daemon upload. Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 40 million copies, and the prequel DLC, Phantom Liberty, sold over 15 million copies. When Studio Trigger's anime released, there was a noticable uptick in player activity and newfound appreciation for the game's rich world, atmosphere, and characters. The community has never been healthier, and there's no telling the impact a theatrical release would have. There's no exact confirmation that it's coming to theaters instead of streaming, but we can only hope. I think Johnny Silverhand would want it to be on the silver screen.
As of yet, there's no official release window for the Cyberpunk 2077 film. We'll keep our eyes peeled for updates.
Add us as a preferred source on Google