Filmmaker David Leitch definitely has a lot on his plate in recent years following the success of John Wick. Between Atomic Bomb and Deadpool 2, many were wondering what his hectic schedule meant for his plans of a movie adaptation for Tom Clancy’s The Division. Apparently progress is not only being made, but “aggressively” so.
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In a recent interview with Collider, Leitch mentioned what drew him to taking on this project, “It was the world. I think the world that those artists created is really compelling, obviously for people who love the game but for people who even—just a cursory look at the artwork and the immersive quality, it’s pretty amazing. I think it also asks some interesting questions about society and putting people in those interesting positions. For me, I thought that was a cool playground.”
With the likelihood of a decent video game movie adaptation rising thanks to the Resident Evil franchise and the most recent Tomb Raider film, he also addressed whether or not he was worried about potential failure:
“I mean yes and no. They’re two different experiences. Obviously the video game you’re telling your own story and it’s so active, and cinema is all about one person’s point of view guiding a story, you’re telling a story. I think sometimes those things are in conflict, but on a project like The Division again it’s like there’s these bigger themes in there that you can pull one out and attach some great characters to and you can have a compelling story, and also given the trappings of the world that people love, I think you can deliver a good movie.”
As far as progress goes, it’s very much a priority ever since Stephen Gaghan’s departure from the project, “We’re still developing the script and the producers are looking for writers and it’s sort of like we’re aggressively moving forward. We’re all fired up to do it, but it’s just getting on the same page… It could be [in the immediate future]. I like the idea of working with Jake and Jessica and that’s really interesting to me, so who wouldn’t want to aggressively move forward and find a point of view on it and dig in? So it could be, I hope so.”
We don’t have any solid information about the upcoming film as of yet, but it is reassuring to know that it hasn’t been forgotten over recent creative changes! To see the entire interview, including what he had to say about his work with Deadpool 2, check out our friends over at Collider right here.
