Ubisoft has big plans for its gaming IPs, and these mainly target the film industry, as seen with their latest film on The Division. Director David Leitch is now talking about what motivated him to take on the project.
Video game adaptations have long been a contentious topic, rarely meeting much enthusiasm within the gaming community.
Despite the high budgets and star-studded casts like Michael Fassbender in the Assassin’s Creed film, most video game movies have received rather poor ratings. Director David Leitch wants to end this “curse” with the adaptation of The Division.
The director of Deadpool 2 wants to make The Division film
Who is David Leitch? In the film industry, Leitch is no stranger. The director has already worked on major Hollywood blockbusters like Captain America: Civil War and Deadpool 2.
In terms of ratings, his films also predominantly receive positive feedback.
What led him to The Division? For Leitch, it was primarily the world of The Division that led him to take on the project.
“Even for people who just take a fleeting glance at the artworks and their immersive quality, the [world] is astonishing,” Leitch stated. He also believes that The Division raises some interesting questions about society.
Will The Division break the curse of bad video game movies? For Leitch, it’s a tricky subject. On one hand, the director is aware that the media of gaming and movies are fundamentally different and cannot simply be converted into each other. On the other hand, he is also confident that The Division is well-suited as material for a film.
According to Leitch, the game features many major themes one could choose from.
“When you then add good story and characters, combined with elements from the game that players love, you can create a good film out of it,” said the director.
Almost all Ubisoft IPs are set to be adapted into films
How have previous Ubisoft films performed? Ubisoft has previously attempted several times to adapt its gaming IPs into films, with mixed success. The adaptations of Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed are considered by screenrant.com to be in the top 5 highest-grossing films based on video games.
However, their ratings on Rotten Tomatoes were rather modest at 35% for Prince of Persia and 18% for Assassin’s Creed. Similar numbers were also seen on Metacritic.
What else does Ubisoft have planned? The The Division film is by no means the only adaptation Ubisoft is aiming for in the future. Most of the company’s game franchises are set to receive their own films eventually. Already mentioned are Watch Dogs, Far Cry, Ghost Recon, and the Rabbids.
Ubisoft is not sparing any expenses, as they have brought in director Michael Bay for the Ghost Recon film, who is primarily known for the Transformers films.
How well this grand plan will work remains to be seen, but fans of the games can be excited.
For more information about The Division film, you can find it in our article:
The Division: Deadpool 2 director is making a movie – When is it going to the cinema?
