A “Duke Nukem” movie is in development
maybe the title Duke Nukem forever refers to how long it would take them to make a movie out of this video game.
Many years after Duke’s grandiose video game golden age, and at least four years since we last heard of a serious attempt to adapt the game, Duke Nukem now gets another shot at the big cinematic moment. According The Hollywood ReporterLegendary has secured the franchise rights and is working on its own adaptation.
They brought in the creators of the hugely popular Cobra Kai series, Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, to produce the film. At this point they are not writing or directing Duke Nukem — THR claims that “a search for a writer to tackle the material is ongoing” and that there is “potentially” the chance that Heald, Hurwitz and Schlossberg could also direct the film.
The last time Duke Nukem was in movie news was in 2018, when there were reports that John Cena was in talks to play the character. It’s actually a pretty good cast for Duke, an over-the-top parody of badass. And it’s only four years later, there’s no physical reason why Cena still couldn’t play the character if Heald, Hurwitz and Schlossberg were interested in him. Cena’s Duke Nukem was developed by Paramount and Platinum Dunes of Michael Bay, but it never came to fruition.
Duke Nukem was part of a group of popular 3D shooters in the 1990s. His twist on the formula was that instead of playing dark and scary things like Loss, duke was essentially a comedy. Just take a look at the picture of Duke above to see who the game was supposed to poke fun at. In this spirit, he should to be the perfect raw material for a big wide action comedy. Keyword should.