The upcoming Jake Gyllenhaal movie The Division, based on the popular video game franchise of the same name, is likely to start filming next year according to the director. The original game; Tom Clancy’s The Division is an online-based shooter which takes place in a near-future New York City that has been ravaged by a viral pandemic. The game focuses on agents of the Strategic Homeland Division who are tasked with salvaging Manhattan and battling the uprising of criminal activity in the area. The game, launched by Ubisoft in 2016, gained the company its best-selling new game debut and earned $33o million worldwide, leading to a sequel in 2019.
Not long after the games release, a live-action movie adaptation was announced with Gyllenhaal attached to star. The actor will be joined by Jessica Chastain to bring to life a script written by former Agents Of Shield writer Rafe Jenkins. The film has been through a turbulent process since it was first announced in 2016, with original director Stephen Gaghan leaving the project in 2018, and his replacement; John Wick and Atomic Blonde director David Leitch also exiting earlier this year due to scheduling conflicts. Now, Rawson Marshall Thurber; the director behind Dwayne Johnson’s latest Netflix action-comedy Red Notice, has finally kickstarted the project back into production, with Netflix also set to distribute the finished film.
Speaking to GamesRadar, the director announced he is “in the middle of the latest rewrite” and that stars Gyllenhaal and Chastain are “fired up and ready to go”, confirming their continued attachment. Thurber then added that “with any luck, we’ll film in 2022”, as the director aims to start shooting as soon as possible. Thus, after a five year development and three separate directors, The Division is finally set to begin production. See the full interview quote below:
"I’m so thrilled about it, […] We’re in the middle of the latest rewrite and I think we’re going to start shooting [next year]. It’s my next movie, Jake and Jessica are fired up and ready to go. With any luck, we’ll film in 2022 and I’m incredibly excited."
This update should be encouraging for those looking forward to the Division movie. All has been mostly quiet on this front since Thurber came onboard back in February, but the director's latest comments indicate progress is being made on the adaptation. Nothing is confirmed yet, though the creative team seems to have a plan in place. Exact shooting dates will likely depend on how schedules pan out. For instance, Gyllenhaal has been in talks to star in Doug Liman’s remake of Road House and has also been attached to headline comic book movie Prophet. He's also set to star in Guy Ritchie's The Interpreter, so it's unclear with project he'll move forward on next. If the Division script is completed in the near future, that could take priority.
Gamers and fans of the Tom Clancy’s The Division series will be cautiously optimistic about the progress with the live action adaptation. The film was one of seven projects announced by Ubisoft’s Motion Pictures company along with 2016’s poorly received Assassin’s Creed starring Michael Fassbender. The video-game movie curse, in which most movies based on games usually find themselves flopping or releasing to poor reception, is rarely broken, but the Gyllenhaal-led action film will surely be aiming to end the streak. The Division is set to begin production in 2022, while a release date is yet to be confirmed.
Source: Games Radar