After the positive commercial success of Tom Clancy’s The Division, a third-person shooter video game set in a dystopian New York City where a mysterious epidemic has completely disrupted society, it should be no surprise that developer Ubisoft is already looking to adapt the story into a film. What’s intriguing is who they currently have tapped to star–actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who is currently attached not just to star but also to produce the movie.
For those who aren’t familiar with the game itself, The Division allows you to create a character who becomes activated as part of its in-universe Strategic Homeland Defense Division; in the wake of a virus’ devastating effects on the city of New York, your job is to restore order while also attempting to determine what caused the outbreak in the first place. As far as I’m concerned, Gyllenhaal’s past roles in films like End of Watch and Nightcrawler make him a perfect fit for this kind of adaptation.
The other great thing about making a Division movie is the potential for a diverse cast; when you’re creating your character for gameplay in the Division world, you have the option to choose from not only a variety of races, but also ages. Given that the game reflects a diverse number of options, fingers crossed that the team behind the film will take that into account when they’re casting their characters. (Because I wound up making my Division character look like a cross between Lisbeth Salander and Negasonic Teenage Warhead from Deadpool, I confess that one of my fancasts for this film has to be Noomi Rapace.)
The Division film isn’t the first video game movie adaptation on the horizon; the trailer for the first Assassin’s Creed starring Michael Fassbender was released just a few weeks ago. It’ll be interesting to see, based on the success of these movies that have some pretty big names attached, if games start to become an even more popular medium to adapt from in the future.
(via Variety, image via Denis Makarenko / Shutterstock.com)
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