The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab) says Duke Nukem, essentially the most infamously failed musclehead in videogame historical past, is headed to the large display screen. The rights to a Duke Nukem movie challenge have been picked up by Legendary Leisure, in accordance with the report, whereas Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, the creators of the Cobra Kai tv collection, are signed as producers.
In some methods, it is a pure match. Duke Nukem was initially created as a simplistic parody of Eighties motion heroes, in any case: He was all motion, ass-kicking, and half-witted one-liners, and the one factor greater than his weapons have been his biceps. The video games moved from 2D platformer to 3D FPS in 1996 with Duke Nukem 3D, a brilliantly good shooter that earned criticism for embracing the stereotypes a bit of too enthusiastically. However despite its success, a brand new sport within the collection did not come alongside till Duke Nukem Ceaselessly in 2011, which ejected the parody factor and went all-in on “Duke is cool”: It was extensively panned, and tanked.
On the floor, that makes a Duke Nukem movie challenge seem to be a dangerous proposition at greatest. I like ’80s motion movies, however I admire them with acceptable ranges of consciousness and irony—and actually, I do not assume there’s any macho star from that period who’s even remotely as douchey as Duke. I certain would not need a Duke Nukem motion movie performed straight.
However the involvement of Heald, Hurwitz, and Schlossberg makes me assume that there is a likelihood it might work. Cobra Kai (opens in new tab), which airs on Netflix, is a sequel to the Karate Child movies from the ’80s, which can be a horrible thought on its face. But it is critically acclaimed and a business hit due to the best way it subverts these unique movies: Characters are extra developed and complicated, unhealthy guys wrestle to be higher (a few of them, anyway), and thru all of it there is a refined acknowledgement of the important ridiculousness of the entire thing: Why are Ralph Macchio and William Zabka nonetheless so desirous to beat the shit out of one another 40 years later?
It is not onerous to think about the same method being taken with Duke, and I believe it might be very efficient. And it isn’t as if the idea of an anachronistic, not-too-bright “hero” compelled to grapple with the realities of a world that is left him behind is a brand new and recent idea: Mike Myers used it to show himself right into a celebrity with the Austin Powers trilogy.
A Gearbox rep confirmed that The Hollywood Reporter report is correct, however didn’t touch upon whether or not it will likely be immediately concerned within the challenge. A author and director for the movie haven’t but been signed.
