“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” director Wes Ball is set to adapt the hit video game “Ruiner” for Universal Pictures, with David Leitch producing through the studio’s first-look deal with his action film company 87North.
Developed by Reikon Games and published by Devolver Digital in 2017, “Ruiner” is an isometric shooter set in the year 2091 in the cyberpunk metropolis Rengkok. The game follows a wired psychopath who fights against a corrupt system to uncover the truth and retrieve his kidnapped brother. Under the guidance of a mysterious hacker, he battles through a world of brutal violence and cutting-edge technology, inching closer to the dark secrets hidden within the city’s neon-lit streets.
Michael Arlen Ross (“Locked”) will write the screenplay. Leitch and Kelly McCormick, who previously produced “The Fall Guy,” “Bullet Train” and “Nobody,” among other films, will produce through 87North.
Dmitri M. Johnson and Mike Goldberg, producers of “Tomb Raider” and “Sonic the Hedgehog,” will produce through Story Kitchen with Timothy I. Stevenson and Dan Jevons executive producing. Ball and his producing partner Joe Hartwick Jr. will also produce on the film, with Reikon Games’ Marek Roefler, Magdalena Tomkowicz and Jakub Stylinski attached as EPs.
Universal Pictures’ senior vice president of Production Development Ryan Jones and creative executive of Production Development Jacqueline Garell will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Like the rest of Hollywood, Universal continues to lean in on video game adaptations following last year’s tentpole success of Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” with $1.36 billion and low-budget success of “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which grossed $291.4 million despite a day-and-date streaming release.
Ball is also stacking up video game projects. In addition to “Ruiner,” he is set to direct an adaptation of Nintendo’s famed “The Legend of Zelda” for Sony Pictures.
He and Hartwick Jr. are represented by Jeff Gorin and Phil d’Amecourt at WME and Rick Genow at Goodman Genow Schenkman Smelkinson + Christopher, LLP. Ross is represented by Entertainment 360 and Lichter Grossman Nichols Feldman Rogal Shikora & Clark. 87North is repped by CAA, JSSK, and 42West. Story Kitchen is repped by WME, Pryor Cashman & TriplePoint PR.
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