Universal Pictures has selected Ángel Manuel Soto, the director of “Blue Beetle,” to direct the film adaptation of the popular video game franchise “Just Cause.”
Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, the producing duo responsible for the studio’s The Fall Guy and Nobody, will continue to produce under their 87North banner. Universal has a first-look agreement with the organization.
Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg, and Timothy I. Stevenson of Story Kitchen. The team is already engaged in the video game industry, as they are currently producing adaptations of the Tomb Raider and Sonic the Hedgehog titles.
Since its introduction in 2006, the video game from Square Enix and Avalanche Studios has immersed players in the role of Rico Rodriguez, a regime change specialist who is engaged in lethal missions. He embarks on missions that require him to work against the clock in order to avert The Black Hand, a lethal mercenary organization. He is equipped with a grappling hook and wingsuit.
Constantin Film spent the majority of a decade developing a feature adaptation, which saw the employment of creatives such as Brad Peyton and Derek Kolstad come and go before the rights ultimately expired.
Universal seized the opportunity to adapt the title, as the studio perceives it as a component of the burgeoning trend of video game adaptations that are displacing the superhero genre at the box office.
The studio achieved success in 2023 with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which grossed over $1.4 billion and $290 million, respectively, at the global box office.
Executive production will be overseen by Dan Jevons. Max Jacoby will be responsible for the initiative on behalf of 87North. The initiative will be managed by the studio’s Senior VP of Production Development, Ryan Jones, and Director of Development, Tony Ducret.
When it was released last year, “Blue Beetle” by Soto was the first significant superhero film to feature a Latino hero and received favorable reviews. He is presently in the process of preparing for the action film “The Wrecking Crew” for Amazon MGM, which will feature Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista. Additionally, he is collaborating with Marco Ramirez to write a Transformers spinoff that he may direct for Paramount.