Actor Simu Liu has announced that heās attempting to make a movie based on the acclaimed 2012 crime videogame, Sleeping Dogs.
For years it looked like a film adaptation of the 2012 video game, Sleeping Dogs was never going to happen. Asian film icon Donnie Yen even spent years trying to get it off the ground but seemingly to no avail ā even though he reportedly ploughed some of his cash into aiding the projectās development and securing some of the rights.
Marvel’s Shang-Chi star Simu Liu has taken to social media (as spotted by Dark Horizons) to say he is “working with the rights holders to bring Sleeping Dogs to the big screen!” ā so perhaps at some point we could yet see a film version of the acclaimed game.
An action crime open world sim in the mould of the popular GTA series, Sleeping Dogs survived a long and difficult development ā it began life as True Crime: Hong Kong at Activision, got cancelled, and was resurrected by Square Enix. Released in 2012, it was widely praised for its combat, realistic Hong Kong setting, and thriller plot about a cop going under cover to take down a crime syndicate.
The original developer, United Front Games, isnāt around anymore, which is probably one of the reasons why the rights have proved so tricky to obtain. At this point, itās also unclear as to whether Donnie Yen is still involved, although we certainly hope that the John Wick: Chapter 4 actor is, not least because weād love to see a Shang-Chi versus Caine showdown ā that would certainly bring some eyeballs to a Sleeping Dogs film. Speaking of the Caine character, Yen is supposed to be reprising the blind assassin in a solo Wick spin-off film, with that project believed to be in development. Yen may also direct.
As for Simu Liu, he has an untitled sequel to 2021ās Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings in the works with Marvel, but thereās currently no word as to when that might happen. Weāll bring you more on this one as we hear it.