Derek Kolstad, the creator and writer of John Wick, has been tapped to kick-start Just Cause, the adaptation of the hit video game franchise.
Constantin Film has also boarded the project, partnering with producer Adrian Askarieh of Prime Universe Films. Askarieh, a longtime believer in the video game adaptation genre, has been associated with Cause for close to a decade and the combination of Kolstad and Constantin positions the property to launch as a global action franchise.
From Avalanche Studios and Square Enix, the four games in the franchise follow Rico Rodriguez on a race-against-time mission to stop The Black Hand, a lethal mercenary group.
Constantin Film’s Robert Kulzer and Prime Universe Film’s Askarieh will produce the film along with Kolstad. Serving as exec producers are Constantin’s Martin Moszkowicz and Square Enix.
Previous incarnations of Cause saw director Brad Peyton (San Andreas) attached as director.
Kolstad originated the hit Wick franchise with a spec. Now the Keanu Reeves series is coming off of its most successful outing yet, with John Wick 3: Parabellum opening to a massive $56.8 million and dethroning Avengers: Endgame as the top movie in North America.
Kolstad is repped by APA, Circle of Confusion and Behr Abramson.
