After letting sleeping dogs lie for quite some time, things are finally looking up for the forthcoming movie adaptation of Sleeping Dogs. Marvel star Simu Liu, who’s working to bring the 2012 open-world crime game to the big screen, has shared an update that the script draft is completed.
“in honour of our sleeping dogs script draft being done, here’s my sleepy dog 👍,” reads his post on X/Twitter, alongside an image of his own dog in slumber, and a redacted photo of the screenplay’s cover page.
Other details about the project, including story specifics and a release window, remain thin, but it’s been a long time coming for fans. Originally announced in 2017 with Ip Man actor Donnie Yen attached to star, it was scrapped earlier this year after a period of radio silence, with the 62-year-old expressing his disappointment:
“I spent a lot of time and did a lot of work with these producers, and I even invested some of my own money into obtaining the drafts and some of the rights. I waited for years. Years. And I really want to do it. I have all these visions in my head, and unfortunately… I don’t know, you know how Hollywood goes, right? I spent many, many years on it. It was an unfortunate thing.”
A week later, Liu reignited hopes of a revival when he stepped in to fill the gap. Story Kitchen is helming the live-action Sleeping Dogs movie, adding to its slate of other video-game-to-big-screen works, including a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Just Cause, Streets of Rage, It Takes Two, and Toejam & Early adaptation. Alongside the producer role, Liu will also play the lead role of Wei Shen.
Released in 2012 and influenced by Hong Kong crime cinema like Infernal Affairs, Sleeping Dogs followed Wei Shen as he infiltrated the local Triad, with gameplay focusing on his martial arts moves, fighting, shooting, and parkour abilities, alongside exploration and combat-assist gadgets. While the studio is now defunct, the rights to the title still belong to publisher Square Enix, which Liu mentioned is “great” to work with in response to a fan asking about smoothing over IP issues.
“They’re absolutely great, it’s the studios that don’t seem to understand how important this IP is BUT we will get them there,” he assured.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
