Here’s some interesting news from Variety, the film rights to the video game ‘Just Cause’ have been optioned by L + E Pictures. The film will reportedly be developed with producer Adrian Askarieh with a script to be written by Michael Ross.
Askarieh is no stranger to film adaptations from video games having previously worked on the ‘Hitman’ film and is also currently attached to ‘Hitman 2’ and ‘Kane and Lynch’ which are both in pre-production.
The Just Cause video games centre on a black ops agent named ‘Rico Rodriguez’ who carries out missions designed to destabilise oppressive rogue administrations. The games allow the player to partake in combat on foot, in vehicles as well as parachute action sequences.
There’s plenty of action a film could take advantage of, the plot elements of Just Cause also are appealing for a film based take on the franchise.
Traditionally video game adaptations tend to be more likely a miss than a hit, Askarieh’s previous project ‘Hitman’ however managed to gross almost $100 million world wide with a production budget of just $17.5 million so he’s been successful in the past from a financial perspective.
I have mixed feelings about a Just Cause adaptation, there’s definitely some potential for a fun action film, though there are other video games I’d be more interested in seeing adapted, Uncharted and Mass Effect both being examples that spring to mind.
