EXCLUSIVE: A feature film based on the popular Square Enix video game Just Cause is getting closer to reality and the plans are to make a big-screen franchise from it. Jason Momoa, who stars as Aquaman in the hotly anticipated Justice League and has his own spin-off film for the character, has signed on to star and Brad Peyton has stepped in to helm the feature film from a screenplay by John Collee (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World). Both Momoa and Peyton have worked together before on both the Netflix Frontier and on Warner Bros.’ San Andreas which ended up with a global box office take of $473.9M.

The story, like the game, follows Rico Rodriguez (Momoa) who is an operative for an organization known as the Agency. The plot of the movie is under wraps but it is expected to deal in some way with Rico’s crisis of conscience while on a mission.

Producing will be Peyton and Jeff Fierson through their ASAP Entertainment banner and Roy Lee through his Vertigo Entertainment, Adrian Askarieh through his banner Prime Universe Films; Eva Cao through her Supernova Entertainment; and Mason XU and Fan Dong through DNA Co. Ltd. China-based DNA also provided the financing for the film.

20th Century Fox has first rights to worldwide distribution, except for China where DNA will distribute through a local distribution partner. In fact, the project was initially set up at the studio before obtaining independent financing.

The action/adventure is based on the Square Enix game and developed by Avalanche Studios.

Momoa stars as Aquaman in the Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill-starring Warner Bros. Thanksgiving tentpole Justice League and will go before the cameras later this year on the stand-alone Aquaman. He also stars in the Netflix series Frontier, which is produced and directed by Peyton.

Peyton is about to go into production on the Dwayne Johnson-starrer Rampage for New Line Cinema. He will also direct and produce the sci-fi action/adventure film Black Hole for STXfilms from a script he co-wrote with Philip
Gawthorne.

Collee also co-wrote the Australian motion picture Tanna which was nominated for an Academy Award this year in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

DNA Pictures is a Beijing-based film production, distribution and investment company. DNA Pictures was founded in 2015 by Mason Xu, former CFO of Bona Film Group and Dr. Fan Dong, former media executive at MEC Global. The company has produced The Rise of a Tomboy

Lee produced The Lego Movie which has earned more than $469.1M at the worldwide box office and spawned a sequel. His upcoming projects include the feature film reboot of Stephen King’s It. Askarieh’s credits include Hitman and Hitman: Agent 47 and the upcoming Kane and Lynch at Nu Image Films which has Gerard Butler attached to star.

Momoa is repped by WME and the law firm of Edelstein, Laird and Sobel. Peyton is repped by CAA.

EXCLUSIVE: Constantin Film has acquired the feature film rights to the hit video game franchise Just Cause, and set as screenwriter Derek Kolstad, the creator and writer of the John Wick trilogy. Deal was made with game owner Avalanche Studios and Square Enix. Constantin is teaming up with Prime Universe Films to launch what they hope will be a big action franchise.

Kolstad comes off the latest John Wick film and recently selling his pitch for the action film Booker to Sony. Constantin Film’s Robert Kulzer and Prime Universe Film’s Adrian Askarieh will produce along with Kolstad. Constantin Film’s Martin Moszkowicz will be exec producer along with Square Enix.

Just Cause will follow the video game blueprint, as Rico Rodriguez is on a race-against-time mission to stop The Black Hand, a lethal mercenary group. The series draws its name from the real-life United States invasion of Panama, code-named “Operation Just Cause.” Rodriguez (aka “The Scorpion”) has become one of the few Latino iconic video game characters. He has a signature “agent of chaos” approach to taking down the bad guys, aided by his iconic Grappling Hook and stealth Wing-suite, that ought to play well on a movie screen.

The games are “open world action” which take place in and around various islands, and the series has shipped over 26 million units worldwide. The filmmakers expect to set a director quickly, and a star as a 2020 start date is eyed by Constantin.

Kolstad is repped by APA, Circle Confusion, and Behr, Abramson, Levy. Nick Hanks brokered on behalf of Constantin, which turned the video game Resident Evil into a hit franchise, with that franchise’s director Paul. W.S. Anderson, turning Monster Hunter into another game-to-film franchise next.

Hit video game franchise Just Cause has gotten a new lease on life.

The video game from Square Enix and Avalanche Studios has landed at Universal Pictures with Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto set to helm the adaptation.

Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, the producing duo behind the studio’s The Fall Guy and Nobody, will produce through their 87North banner. The company has a first-look deal with Universal.

Also producing are Dmitri M. Johnson, Mike Goldberg and Timothy I. Stevenson of Story Kitchen. The team is already involved in the video game space with adaptations of the Tomb Raider and Sonic the Hedgehog titles.

Since its 2006 debut, the video game puts players on deadly missions as Rico Rodriguez, an operative who is a regime change specialist. Armed with a grappling hook and wingsuit, he goes on race-against-time missions to stop The Black Hand, a lethal mercenary group.

A feature adaptation spent the better part of a decade being developed by Constantin Film and saw creatives such as Brad Peyton and Derek Kolstad fly in and out before the rights eventually lapsed.

Universal jumped at the chance for the adaptation, as the studio sees the title as part of the rising wave of video game adaptations that seem to be supplanting the superhero genre at the box office. In 2023 alone, the studio found hits with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s, which grossed over $1.4 billion and $290 million respectively in the global box office.

Dan Jevons will executive produce. Max Jacoby will overseeing the project for 87North. Senior vp of production development Ryan Jones and director of development Tony Ducret will oversee the project for the studio.

Soto’s Blue Beetle was the first major superhero movie to center on a Latino hero and garnered positive reviews when it was released last year. He is currently in prep for action movie The Wrecking Crew for Amazon MGM that will star Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista. He is also co-writing a Transformers spinoff with Marco Ramirez that he may direct for Paramount.

Soto is repped by CAA and Redefine Entertainment.