Draft:Mega Man (film)

Mega Man
Directed by
Written by
Based onMega Man
by Capcom[a]
Produced by
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Mega Man (tentative title) is an upcoming American science fiction action film based on the Capcom video game franchise Mega Man. Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman from a script they wrote with Mattson Tomlin and Josh Koenigsberg, the film is produced by Capcom, Chernin Entertainment, and Supermarché for the streaming service Netflix.

A Mega Man film entered development in December 2014 at 20th Century Fox and was revealed in September 2015 with Chernin Entertainment involved. Joost and Schulman were hired by July 2017, and Capcom officially announced the film in October 2018. After Fox was acquired by Disney in March 2019, work continued at Capcom and Chernin, and Tomlin was hired in January 2020 to rewrite the script. Netflix picked up the film by December 2021 as part of a deal with Chernin, and Koenigsberg joined by August 2022.

Mega Man is set to be released on Netflix.

Production

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Development

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Development on a feature film adaptation of the Mega Man video game series published by Capcom had begun by December 2014, at which point 20th Century Fox had registered a website domain for such a film.[1][2] Fox was revealed to be developing the film in September 2015 with Chernin Entertainment, whose CEO Peter Chernin was producing. The executives overseeing the production were Chernin's David Ready and Michael Finfer alongside Fox's Mike Ireland and Ryan Horrigan.[3] Fox had attempted to secure the film rights to Mega Man for over two years, and officially signed a deal to do so in early 2017. Filmmaking duo Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman were in final negotiations to write and direct the film in July 2017, when Masi Oka joined as a producer.[4] In October 2018, Capcom officially announced the film, confirmed the involvement of Joost, Schulman, and Oka, and that it would be live-action with a high budget to depict the world of the Mega Man games. The film was given the tentative title Mega Man, and was a part of Capcom's plans to increase the value of the franchise following the Mega Man original series video game Mega Man 11, which was released that month. The film was intended to appeal to both video game and action film audiences.[5] After the Walt Disney Company officially acquired Fox in March 2019,[6] Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in August that several films in development at Fox were no longer moving forward, citing operating losses from that studio in Disney's third fiscal quarter.[7] The Mega Man film was believed to have been shelved,[8] but Capcom reaffirmed its development that October and stated the film was planned to create further awareness for the brand.[9]

In January 2020, Disney and Chernin mutually agreed to end their producing deal inherited from Fox, citing Disney rarely having third-party studios finance their films. Chernin Entertainment was set to retain 70 of its projects from Fox, while the remaining productions were Disney-owned properties that would still involve Chernin as an executive producer.[10] Later that month, Mattson Tomlin was revealed to be rewriting the Mega Man script.[11][12] In April, Chernin Entertainment signed a non-exclusive multi-year first-look film deal with the streaming service Netflix.[13] Joost and Schulman said in July that major updates would soon be provided for the film, and confirmed they invited Tomlin to co-write the script after he wrote their Netflix film Project Power (2020). The duo wanted to combine their interest in robotics and the future of automation with their favorite Mega Man games, and called Mega Man an "underdog hero".[14] In August, Tomlin said his approach was to explore Mega Man as a real person with a "primal and emotional" story that could be relatable beyond the character's traditional depictions.[15] In December 2021, Joost and Schulman's production company Supermarché was revealed to be developing the film alongside Chernin Entertainment for Netflix, with the duo's in-house producer Orlee-Rose Strauss also attached.[16][17] Ryan Leston at IGN reported the film was still in early development at that time.[17] Schulman confirmed in August 2022 that he and Joost were still writing the film for Netflix, saying it would explore the future of automation and whether "man and robot becoming one" was a good or bad combination.[18] Joost soon revealed that Josh Koenigsberg, who co-wrote the duo's film Secret Headquarters (2022), was writing a new draft of the screenplay with the duo and hoped to turn in a completed draft to Netflix in the following weeks. Koenigsberg said he had replayed past Mega Man video games to research the property.[19]

Release

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Mega Man is set to be released on the streaming service Netflix.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ Mega Man was developed and published by Capcom, directed by Akira Kitamura, produced by Takashi Nishiyama, and illustrated by Yasuaki Kishimoto, Naoya Tomita, Keiji Inafune, and Akira Kitamura.

References

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  1. ^ Kamen, Matt (September 9, 2015). "Mega Man movie blasts onto big screen". Wired UK. Archived from the original on May 12, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  2. ^ "Whois Record for MegaMan-Movie.com". DomainTools. February 11, 2022. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  3. ^ Boyle, Lance (September 2, 2015). "{TB Exclusive} A Mega Man Movie Is A Go at Fox". The Tracking Board. Archived from the original on September 3, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  4. ^ Kit, Borys (July 19, 2017). "Catfish Helmers in Talks to Direct Mega Man Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  5. ^ Vincent, Brittany (October 4, 2018). "Capcom Finalizes Deal to Turn Mega Man Into Live-Action Film". Variety. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018. – via "Mega Man to be Adapted into Live-Action Hollywood Film for the First Time!" (Press release). Capcom. October 4, 2018. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  6. ^ Szalai, Georg (March 19, 2019). "Disney Closes $71.3 Billion Fox Deal, Creating Global Content Powerhouse". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  7. ^ Donnelly, Matt (August 6, 2019). "Disney Flushes Fox Film Development, 'Redirects' Strategy After Big Q3 Loss". Variety. Archived from the original on August 6, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  8. ^ Switzer, Eric (August 8, 2019). "Disney Just Scrapped Mega Man, Magic: The Gathering, And Sims Movies". The Gamer. Archived from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Fischer, Tyler (October 29, 2019). "Mega Man Movie Still Happening, According to Capcom". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2020. Retrieved July 23, 2021. – via "Capcom | Financial Review (Japan GAAP)" (Press release). Capcom. October 29, 2019. Archived from the original on November 16, 2019. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  10. ^ Vary, Adam B. (January 17, 2020). "Disney and Chernin Entertainment Parting Ways (Exclusive)". Variety. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  11. ^ Kit, Borys (January 22, 2020). "Seth Rogen, David F. Sandberg Tackling Rick Remender's Fear Agent for Amazon (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 23, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  12. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 28, 2020). "Lionsgate Buying Graphic Horror Novel Memetic For The Batman Co-Writer Mattson Tomlin To Script; Point Grey & Boom! Studios Producing". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  13. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (April 7, 2020). "Netflix Sets Chernin Entertainment To Multi-Year First Look Film Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  14. ^ Bankhurst, Adam (July 24, 2020). "Mega Man Live-Action Film Is Still Happening and 'Big News' Is Coming Soon". IGN. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  15. ^ McWhertor, Michael (August 19, 2020). "Mega Man movie writer wants to tell a 'primal', 'emotional' story". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  16. ^ Lacerna, Michael (December 3, 2021). "Live-Action Mega Man Movie Is Headed to Netflix". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022. – via "Henry Joost & Ariel (Rel) Schulman". Supermarché. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  17. ^ a b Leston, Ryan (December 13, 2021). "Mega Man Movie In the Works at Netflix". IGN. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  18. ^ Ferrari, Alex (August 11, 2022). "IFH 606: From Wedding Videos To Directing For Netflix & Paramount+ With Rel Schulman And Henry Joost". Indie Film Hustle. Event occurs at 49:19–49:37. Archived from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 5, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Douglas, Edward (August 16, 2022). "Secret Headquarters Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman on Working With Jerry Bruckheimer and Prepping Kids for Action Scenes". Below the Line. Archived from the original on August 16, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
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