John Cena is reportedly in talks to star as the titular character in a film adaptation of the popular video game, Duke Nukem.
With the video game adaptations like Tomb Raider and Rampage heading to movie theaters, it seems like studios are really trying to make the video game flick a thing again. Reports are surfacing that yet another classic video game character is coming to the big screen: Duke Nukem. Paramount and Cena are currently in talks for him to play the lead in the film, which would be produced by Michael Bay, Andrew Form, and Brad Fuller’s company, Platinum Dunes
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The Duke Nukem game follows Duke as he fights to save the earth from an incursion of aliens. The character first came to video games in 1991, and is the quintessence of the male action hero stereotype. Duke is tough, he’s often seen with a cigar in his mouth, and he’s often highly irreverent, to put it mildly.
Paramount’s decision to bring the character back to life in the form of a movie is an interesting one. The Duke Nukem character hasn’t particularly aged well, as the character’s irreverence is seen as downright problematic these days. Additionally, when Gearbox attempted to revive the character in game form back in 2011 with Duke Nukem Forever, the reviews for the game (and the character himself) were far from favorable.
With all that in mind, it’s an interesting move to see Paramount and Platinum Dunes attempt to revive the character. The script will be written once Cena is locked in for the film, so we’ll have to wait and see how they develop a Duke Nukem movie for the modern moviegoer.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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