The production company behind the Mega Man movie has finally posted an update on the video game adaptation's production, revealing that the Blue Bomber is headed to Netflix.
The movie was briefly mentioned in an update to the official website of Supermarché, the production company that is run by the Mega Man movie's writers and directors, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Joost and Schulman are best known for their work on the Paranormal Activity franchise. The bio for the duo now states that the movie adaptation of Capcom's beloved 2D action-platformer series is now "in the works" for streaming company Netflix.
Despite being announced over four years ago, very little known is known about the Mega Man movie. Capcom initially announced its plans to produce a Mega Man movie in 2018. Joost and Schulman were revealed to be helming the project, with Heroes star Masi Oka serving as its executive producer. After a year without updates on the film's progress, Capcom confirmed in 2019 that the movie was still in production. In 2020, the Hollywood Reporter stated that the film's script was being written by Mattson Tomlin, who also served as co-writer for Warner Bros.' The Batman. That film, which is directed by Matt Reeves and stars Robert Pattinson, is scheduled to be released in 2021.
The Mega Man movie will be the latest in a long line of Capcom game-to-movie adaptations. A Street Fighter movie was released in 1994 which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme and the late Raul Julia. While the movie was lambasted by critics at the time of its release, it has since become an ironic cult classic. A live-action Resident Evil movie was produced in 2002, and while it was similarly panned by critics, it was successful enough to spawn five sequels. The latest Resident Evil movie, Welcome to Raccoon City, takes place in a rebooted continuity and was originally promoted as a more faithful adaptation of the games when compared to the original film series. It was released in Nov. 2021 to mixed reviews.
Mega Man, known in Japan under the name Rock Man, was introduced to the world in 1987 with a video game for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The game told the story of the eponymous Mega Man, a robot built to resemble a young boy, who was created by the civilly minded inventor Dr. Light. Mega Man is forced to do battle with 8 robot masters, who were built by Light's maniacal rival, Dr. Wily. Directed by Akira Kitamura, the 2D platformer gained recognition for its then-unique non-linear progression structure and the rock-paper-scissors mechanics of the weapons that Mega Man could equip. The original game was a hit, and spawned numerous sequels and spin-off series, with the most recent new title in the franchise, Mega Man 11, being released on the Nintendo Switch, Sony Playstation 4, and Microsoft Xbox One in 2018.
Source: Supermarché, via Protodude's Rock Man Corner