Kingmakers, developed by Redemption Road and to be published by tinyBuild, recently took everyone by surprise with its eccentric (and technically impressive) first trailer, and while we don’t have a release date yet, it seems that Hollywood is already interested in bringing it to the big screen.
Via GamesBeat, we’ve learned that Story Kitchen, a recently-formed production company behind the Sonic the Hedgehog movies and the upcoming Tomb Raider animated series (as well as many other gaming-related projects), has signed a deal to help develop a live-action movie based on the yet-to-be-released third-person shooter.
“The action, world-building, and intriguing sci-fi of Kingmakers make it a perfect concoction to build a propulsive new franchise in Hollywood… We have always been massive fans of tinyBuild. As publishers, they’re putting out great games that we love playing. We’ve kept a close eye on the things they’re working on and have been trying to figure out the next best opportunity to collaborate with them,” said Story Kitchen cofounder Dmitri M. Johnson. Looking at Kingmakers’ simple yet punchy premise, one can easily see how it could deftly translate will into an uncomplicated action movie that taps into several subgenres at once.
While much of Story Kitchen’s promised output of movies and shows has yet to manifest in any way, it’s safe to say the Sonic movies have worked reasonably well and even recruited new fans into Sega’s flagship franchise, which is more than many veteran Hollywood producers and movie companies can claim about their game-to-film adaptations. At this point, it’s hard to even know if Kingmakers will be any good past the first two-to-four hours of mindlessly shotgunning medieval knights and running them over with a truck, but maybe the world is ready for a spiritual successor to Army of Darkness (sans the Deadites and walking skeletons, of course).
As for the game itself, its Steam page currently promises a 2024 release and little else, but maybe we’ll be learning more about it sooner rather than later. We do know for sure that some light tactical elements and co-op are part of the overall experience, so it should be interesting to see how everything comes together (or doesn’t) beyond the attractive basic premise once we get our hands on it. The game is set to release on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S too.
