The tides may turn for Sleeping Dogs, and fans could certainly do with the good news. Following the unfortunate cancellation of Ip Man star Donnie Yen’s adaptation, the sleeper (ha) hit from the now-defunct United Front Games has another shot at being adapted into a live-action movie — if Simu Liu plays his cards right, that is.

The Canadian actor, best known for his role as Marvel superhero Shang-Chi, shared on X/Twitter that he’s currently “working with right holders to bring Sleeping Dogs to the big screen!” The update comes in response to a tagged post from user Zengames44, who expressed an interest in a sequel after influencer rinothebouncer posted a gameplay clip of the 2012 title.
“Are you Wei [Shen]?” asked Zengames44 to Liu, and the rest is history.
Liu’s involvement is hardly surprising, considering his love for video games. The 35-year-old has always been vocal about his hobby, dedicating a separate follow-up post to the narrative arcs of key characters Winston and Jackie, which made him “realise how special the game was”.
Pulling from Hong Kong crime cinema like Infernal Affairs, Sleeping Dogs centred on undercover cop Wei Shen as he infiltrated the local Triad, with gameplay focusing on his martial arts moves, fighting, shooting, and parkour abilities, alongside exploration and combat-assist gadgets. It saw renewed hope with a planned sequel and spin-off, but both projects were ultimately scrapped in the 2010s.
Hopefully, Liu’s pitch will change things (pretty please, with a cherry on top!).