Hollywood is trying to make a Duke Nukem movie again

Hollywood is again in the starting blocks to make a Duke Nukem movie. This time, the creators of The Karate Kid-based television series Cobra Kai have been asked to take the helm. There is no release date yet.

The creators of Cobra Kai are Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg. The production house behind the film is Legendary Entertainment, which produces many successful, big-budget films has to his name. Assassin’s Creed film producer Jean Julien Baronnet of the production house Marla Studios specializing in game films is also connected to the project. A writer and director are not yet here, nor an actor to play Duke Nukem.

It is not the first time that Hollywood intends to make a Duke Nukem film. In 2018, Paramount Pictures wanted to make a Duke Nukem movie with wrestler John Cena in the title role and Michael Bay as the director. It seems to have stranded somewhere in 2019, according to a tweet from Duke voice actor John St. Johnexcavated by The Verge. Another find from that site: a interview from 2018 with the producers of the Duke film that Cena would star in. In it they discuss the challenges of making a film today with Duke’s attitude towards women and political correctness. Then they looked to the hit Deadpool movie for inspiration.

Part of what made Duke Nukem a difficult movie to make was that the rights were held by several parties. Those were partly at Gearbox Software and partly at 3D Realms. Those parties are respectively responsible for Duke Nukem Forever and Duke Nukem 3D. There have also been court battles to determine who is now the rightful owner of Duke. However, both parties have become objects in the M&A craze that the gaming industry is currently experiencing: the two have been bought by the Embracer Group. With that, the discussion about who is the rightful owner seems to have come to an end.

Duke Nukem started life as a platform game in 1991. There Duke fought against the robot armies of Dr. Proton, who wanted to destroy the world. Duke Nukem II was also a platformer, but here the aliens came into the picture as the villains. Duke Nukem 3D came out in 1996 and picks up right where part 2 left off. Aliens have invaded Los Angeles and it’s up to Duke to stop them. The third part was very popular and is known for its interactive game world, smooth gameplay, pop culture references and coarse tone. The sequel Duke Nukem Forever came from another studio, Gearbox Software, and was not a success.