It’s taken 11 years, but the long-gestating Watch Dogs movie is finally one step closer to seeing the light of day. In a surprise update on X/Twitter, Ubisoft announced that filming has begun on the live-action project, with a picture of a clapboard and the caption “Lights_Camera_Action.exe”.
An individual sitting at a computer can also be seen in the background, giving nothing of its story away. Plot details are scant for now, but it’s been confirmed that Mathieu Turi (The Deep Dark, Meander) will helm the flick based on a script penned by Christie LeBlanc (Oxygen) with rewrites by Victoria Bata.
First announced in 2013 even before the game’s release, the Watch Dogs film has been in development hell for what seemed like an eternity. Hope was reignited when Deadline confirmed the casting of Tom Blyth (The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) and Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me) as leads in the anticipated adaptation. Not much else is known about their roles, however.
Since its debut over a decade ago, the franchise has expanded to include sequels set in different cities. The first installment follows Aiden Pearce, a hacker with the ability to manipulate technology, on his quest for revenge after the killing of his niece in a fictionalised version of Chicago. A follow-up located in San Francisco was released in 2016, with the latest entry, Watch Dogs: Legion featuring a London setting.
There’s currently no word on a release date for the Watch Dogs movie, but a 2025 window seems quite plausible.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Natalie
