Duke Nukem is getting ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum on the big screen.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary Entertainment has acquired the film rights to the video game series Duke Nukem from Gearbox Software, the current owner of the property. In addition to Legendary itself, Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg are attached to produce the Duke Nukem movie through their Counterbalance Entertainment label.
Jean-Julien Baronnet of Marla Studios -- a company that specializes in video game adaptations -- is also producing. Baronnet previously produced 20th Century Fox's 2016 film adaptation of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed. Baronnet has been attached to produce a Duke Nukem film since late 2018. The project was previously in development at Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes, with John Cena attached to star. However, development halted in early 2018 when distributor Paramount dropped the project.
Developed by Apogee Software, which would later be renamed 3D Realms, the original Duke Nukem game was an action-adventure platformer that released in 1991. Duke Nukem II, a sequel of a similar style, followed suit in 1993. 3D Realms then developed Duke Nukem 3D, a first-person shooter that was originally released in 1996.
Alongside games like Doom and Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem 3D is credited with helping to popularize the FPS genre during the 1990s. Duke Nukem 3D is also well known for its crude style of humor, pop culture references and its titular protagonist (voiced by Jon St. John), who acts as a parody of the hypermasculine action heroes typically associated with '80s cinema.
Duke Nukem Forever, a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D, was originally announced in 1997. However, the game was notoriously hit with numerous delays, with 3D Realms completely restarting development on multiple occasions. The game lost its development team in 2009 amid downsizing at 3D Realms, with studios like Triptych Games, Gearbox and Piranha Games stepping up bring it across the finish line. Published by 2K Games, Duke Nukem Forever finally saw the light of day in 2011, only to be panned by critics and gamers alike. Interestingly, an unfinished version of Duke Nukem Forever from 2001 recently leaked online.
Between 1996 and 2011, a number of spinoff games released, such as the 1998 third-person shooter Duke Nukem: Time to Kill and the 2001 platformer Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project, among several others. While a new, main series entry has not been released since 2011, the character of Duke Nukem has remained relevant thanks to various internet memes.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter