Other than the reveal earlier this year that John Cena would be playing Duke himself, all other news about the upcoming Duke Nukem movie has been slow to follow. Luckily, the ball has begun to roll as Variety reports that they’ve tapped into Assassin’s Creed producer Jean-Julien Baronnet to help bring this larger than life character to the big screen.
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The film has had a rocky start since it was first confirmed to be in the works. Previously, Gearbox Software was working with Paramount Studios to bring the gaming giant to life. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes was also involved, though Paramount Studios has since dropped out.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but Duke is a classic so Cena definitely has his hands full. The fandom never forgets when a character has been done wrong so it’s up to the team to make sure to do this right and do the Duke justice when production finally begins.
The best part is that all of those classic lines from the games will also be a huge focus – this movie is aiming for pure authenticity, which is a good thing!
“He’s a parody of 1980s action heroes and he’s like Deadpool in terms of being able to break the fourth wall,” Gearbox’s Sean Haren said to Variety. “We see a lot of humor in his confronting the values of today while trying to save the world.”
For those that may be unaware of this noteworthy badass, Duke Nukem became a legend back in 1991 in a video game by Apogee Software. The big muscled, cigar smoking, tight shirt wearing tough guy was a force to be reckoned with – even with that silly flat-top haircut. He kicked ass and he took names, saving humanity from aliens one witty one-liner at a time.
Since his grand gaming debut, Duke has been in 19 video games with the most recent being Duke Nukem 3D: World Tour. While not every title was a smashing success, the character remained true to himself despite the changing times.
Wed don’t have any release date information at this time, though we’ll be learning more in the coming year!
