Movies
Producers Update on Status of John Cena-starring ‘Duke Nukem’ Movie
It was announced back in January that Paramount and Platinum Dunes are moving forward on a live-action adaptation of the video game Duke Nukem, with WWE superstar John Cena tapped to play the jacked up, ass kicking title character. Dunes producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form updated Cinema Blend on the project this week.
As of right now, they’re still trying to nail the overall tonal approach.
“We are working on Duke Nukem right now. It’s going to be about tone,” Form told the site. “How do you nail that tone in the way that Deadpool nailed the tone? I think we have to do that and if we don’t get the tone right then we’re not going to make the movie.”
He continued, “You know that having a misogynistic guy in today’s world, how do you make that fun and lovable and at the same time he’s got to be an incredible badass? So those are the things that we’re struggling with and we’re going to try and come out with what I hope is a really fun ride. That’s the goal, is for it to be a really fun ride.”
Form also noted that Cena is their go-to star, but nothing is set in stone without a script.
“Yeah, [John Cena is who] we’re working with now. He is. Yes,” Form confirmed. “We don’t have a script yet, so that is confirmed at this point. But if he reads the script and he doesn’t like the script I’m sure there’s ways that he could pull out. But right now he’s our guy.”
The Nukem games follow the adventures of the titular protagonist, who initially was a mash-up of action-hero tropes. The muscular, cigar-chomping figure has been fighting aliens in order to save planet Earth since 1991, when the first game was released.
If you want to watch a fun movie, watch a Ryuhei Kitamura movie. Whether it’s 2000’s Versus, 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, 2008’s The Midnight Meat Train or 2022’s underseen The Price We Pay, Kitamura always knows how to deliver a wild and crazy good time.
Up next from Ryuhei Kitamura? Deadline reports that he’ll be directing Thrill Ride, which sounds a bit like the best parts of Final Destination 3… expanded into a feature film!
Deadline details, “the English-language film will tell the story of a group of people, including two young women, who are trapped upside down on a roller coaster taken over by a mysterious saboteur threatening to drop them all one-by-one to their deaths.”
Film Bridge International is launching the project for sales ahead of the Cannes market.
Chad Law and Christopher Jolley wrote the screenplay.
“Thrill Ride is exactly the type of high-concept based thriller that our customers are looking for in the marketplace,” said Film Bridge’s Ellen Wander and Jordan Dykstra. “With Ryuhei at the helm, we know his vision and execution will deliver thrills of the highest quality.”
“As a hardcore rollercoaster fan since I was young, I immediately fell in love with this script filled with suspense, action, crazy ups and downs, turns, loops, and corkscrews at maximum speed,” adds Kitamura. “I can’t wait to get on a ride and bring life to the wildest rollercoaster imaginable.”
We’re already seated. Stay tuned for more on Thrill Ride as we learn it.
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