MOVIE NEWS – The Just Cause movie has new information, as Constantine Film has stepped in and scooped up the rights to the popular video game franchise. What’s even more, they’ve also hired John Wick franchise creator Derek Kolstad to pen the big screen adaptation. This is actually a project that has been kicking around Hollywood, in some form or another, for a pretty long time, still, it seems that its new home is rather serious about pulling the trigger sooner rather than later.

According to many reports, Constantine Film wants to produce Just Cause Movie going in 2020. Derek Kolstad will pen the screenplay. At present, there is no word on who could wind up in the director’s chair, nor is it clear who could wind up in the lead role. Back in March 2017, Aquaman star Jason Momoa was attached, with Brad Peyton (Rampage) on deck to direct. It’s quite likely now that the project has shifted hands that anyone who was previously attached isn’t anymore. So, for the time being, we’re left with the knowledge that one of the men chiefly responsible for one of the greatest modern action franchises (if not ever) is going to try to work his magic on this property as well.

The video game series actually gets its name from the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, which was code-named Operation Just Cause. The first movie centred on a hired operative named Rico Rodriguez, aka The Scorpion, who lands on a tropical island called San Esperito in an attempt to overthrow a dictatorship said to have weapons of mass destruction. While plot details for the movie are relatively minimal for now, it’s said the action will centre on Rodriguez who finds himself in a race-against-time to stop a lethal group of mercenaries known as the Black Hand.

Just Cause got its start in 2006 when the first video game in the series was released by Avalanche Studios. Three sequels have been released in the years since, with Just Cause 4 arriving in December 2018. The series has shipped approximately 15 million copies worldwide. Couple that with the action-heavy nature and it seems like the kind of thing that could very much have big franchise potential if handled correctly. And that could be the key here, especially as it pertains to video game movies.

Derek Kolstad, for his part, has penned all three John Wick movies, which has evolved into an incredibly successful franchise for Lionsgate, with a fourth entry on the way which was recently dated for May 2021. Robert Kulzer Adrian Askarieh is set to produce, alongside Martin Moszkowicz of Constantine Films, who will serve as an executive producer. Kulzer served previously as a producer on the Resident Evil franchise, which grossed more than $1.2 billion at the global box office. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as further details on the project are made available.

SOURCE: Variety