During an interview with Video Games Chronicle, series creator Mike Pondsmith discussed the possibility of a Cyberpunk film. He is best known for creating the Cyberpunk series with a tabletop game in 1988. The series creator is also consulting with CD Projekt Red on the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077.
Pondsmith pointed to the inclusion of Keanu Reeves as Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077 and noted that a film might be much more likely now that the actor is involved. When asked about movie rights, Pondsmith didn’t reveal much, but what he did have to say was noteworthy:
I can’t really say anything on [movie rights]. But with Keanu Reeves being tied up in things, it’s become much more of a possibility.
Video Games Chronicle then asked developer CD Projekt Red about the inclusion of any more Hollywood actors in the upcoming RPG. Not surprisingly, the company responded with, “No comment.”
When discussing the idea of a Cyberpunk film, Pondsmith had a few things to say:
My favorite film is Blade Runner, but I recognize inherently that it’s a cerebral film and 2049 was even more cerebral. A cerebral film is not necessarily going to allow other people to enter that space and understand it, but at the same time you don’t want to do it totally action either.
We found a sweet spot with Cyberpunk which is, we make you think, but we don’t bog you down and give you an education.
At the end of the day, there will be a moment in 2077 when you’re sitting there as V and you’ll look down and realize that both of your hands are essentially cybernetic tool factories. As a player, you should at some point think, what is that like? There should be that moment of discomfort.
I’ve recognized over the years that you have to adapt to the medium to make it effective. You don’t use one medium you use another. What I do with tabletop is very different from what I would do in a video game.
Having to go between the two of them now, I can see that there are things that are easy to do in tabletop that I would never try to do in video games, but there are things in video games that have much higher impact than I’ll ever have in tabletop.
And that will change if we ever do a film for this thing. What I expect to see will be different.
With the positive reception to Keanu Reeves’ inclusion in Cyberpunk 2077, having the actor star in a feature length film could be quite lucrative and seems like something that could happen; much like The Witcher Netflix series, another video game franchise from CD Projekt Red.
Time will tell, but for now, we can look forward to the game’s release on April 16, 2020.
You can also preorder Cyberpunk 2077 through Amazon here to get $10 off.
[Source: Video Games Chronicle]
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