Fast & Furious 8 director to make movie based on Saints Row games
F. Gary Gray, known for films such as Straight Outta Compton and Fast & Furious 8, will direct a film based on developer Volition’s Saints Row game series. It is still unknown when the film will be released and who will play the lead roles.
Director F. Gary Gray will develop the film together with writer Greg Russo, Deadline reports. Russo is also currently writing a Mortal Kombat reboot for Warner Bros. The film is a joint production of Koch Media, Occupant Entertainment and Gray’s own Fenix Studios. Gray is no stranger to the movie world; He previously directed the 2003 film Italian Job and Men in Black: International, which will be released in June. It is not yet known whether the Saints Row movie will be based on the story from the game series, or if it will only be loosely based on the Saint Row games. Production is still in an early phase.
The story of the Saints Row games spans four parts, with each part in the series even crazier and more unrealistic than the last. In the first to the third part it is a somewhat realistic story in which you are a gang leader of the Third Street Saints. The fourth and as yet the last part in the game series, released in 2013, is also the craziest part. The game starts with the player becoming president of the United States, then soon simulations, spaceships and aliens appear on the scene.
A Saints Row movie has already been worked on before. In 2009, the actor and rapper 50 Cent announced that they were working on a film based on the games. Nick Nunziata, a producer who was working on the film at the time, wrote in 2016 that it was a “strong script” at the time and according to writer Peter Aperlo, the film’s story would fit between the events of the first two games. According to Nunziata, THQ, the game company that was behind the game series until 2013, had the right approach and there was a lot of interest from bigger directors. However, THQ went bankrupt in 2013, after which the project came to a standstill. After that bankruptcy, Koch Media became the new owner of the rights to the Saints Row franchise and, according to Aperlo, this company was not interested in making a film at the time. Apparently that has changed, as Koch Media is part of the current initiative with director Gray. Perhaps this change is related to the fact that Koch Media has had a new owner since a year: THQ Nordic. It is not clear to what extent the current project draws on previous work.