UPDATE: Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) has officially confirmed that is hard at work on pitching the Sleeping Dogs project to studio executives.
So few film projects make it from pitch phase to greenlight. Pitching execs who don’t understand the game has been tiring. Everyone’s overwhelming love of Sleeping Dogs here has really given us life!
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) January 31, 2025
First a movie, then a sequel game for everyone… that’s always been the dream. pic.twitter.com/g84r9Lf0SI
Liu also mentioned that if he is able to get the project off the ground, the first person he will call is Donnie Yen. So maybe, just maybe, Yen may come back on-board.
If we actually pull this off, my first call will be to Donnie. Second call would be Will Yun Lee, the original voice of Wei. Third, to DoorDash to find me the nearest restaurant that serves pork bun
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) January 31, 2025
UPDATE: We definitely saw this coming. Donnie Yen has confirmed that he is no longer involved with the Sleeping Dogs project.
“I spent a lot of time and did a lot of work with these producers, and I even invested some of my own money into obtaining the drafts and some of the rights. I waited for years. Years. And I really want to do it. I have all these visions in my head, and unfortunately… I don’t know, you know how Hollywood goes, right? I spent many, many years on it. It was an unfortunate thing. Well, on to better things,” Yen told Polygon.
Fans can currently catch Yen in The Prosecutor now playing in theaters.
SOURCE: Polygon
UPDATE: According to The Illuminerdi Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu may be attached to Sleeping Dogs. During an appearance at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, Liu was asked about his upcoming projects and he replied:
“And I’m probably not supposed to say anything. We’re just super jumping the gun on it. But there’s a video game out there that features a, shall we say, Asian-American protagonist that takes place in Hong Kong. That I might be working – I don’t know – I don’t know. I’m not gonna say the name because I didn’t want it to be – I don’t want to jump the gun on it. But it’s something I’m really excited to be diving in on.”
It is assumed that Liu is talking about Sleeping Dogs. If indeed true, it is not known if Liu will be starring alongside Donnie Yen or is taking over the lead role altogether. We’ll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned.
SOURCE: The Illuminerdi
UPDATE: Donnie Yen spoke to Collider and gave an update on the long in development live action adaptation of Sleeping Dogs.
“I’m still hopeful. I mean, every day they tell me it’s going to happen. I’m co-producing and collaborating with [producers] Neil Moritz and Toby [Ascher], with their company, and currently talking with a couple of big platforms. And they tell me every single day it’s going to happen, so we’ll see. Like I said, I believe in destiny. So, if it’s going to happen, hopefully, it will happen the first half of next year,” Yen told Collider.
See the FULL interview below.
UPDATE: After more than 2 years from being announced, it looks like Donnie Yen has finally started prepping for Sleeping Dogs! Yen gave an update via his official Instagram.
UPDATE: While speaking to Mike Leeder (via ScreenAnarchy) Donnie Yen gave an update on Sleeping Dogs stating:
“Now I know a lot of people are very excited about Sleeping Dogs, but we still have a way to go in development. Its taken a while but we’ve finally found a wriiter that myself and Neal Moritz the Producer have agreed upon, and he’s got to work on the script, as we really want it to be accurate, we want it to reflect the real Hong Kong and the game. Its been a long journey, we;ve had to deal with some obstacles, Square Enix finally signed off on everything. Its taken a lot of time, international projects just take a lot of time even for prep, in Hong Kong I could have made 5 movies in the time its taken just to get started on this one! The good thing is that we’re all on the same page, we all want this to work and ready to move forward.”
Yen can currently be seen in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Mulan.
SOURCE: ScreenAnarchy
After the major box office success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and xXx: Return Of Xander Cage, Donnie Yen has become a hot commodity in Hollywood. His next project in Tinseltown will be none other than the live-action adaptation of Square Enix’s hit video game Sleeping Dogs!
The film will be produced by Neal Moritz, the man behind the global blockbuster franchise The Fast and The Furious.
For those unfamiliar with the game, it is set in Hong Kong and follows “Wei Shen, an undercover police officer (Yen) on a mission to take down one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations in the world: the notorious Triads”.
The plot is very similar to 2013’s action thriller Special ID also starring Yen. Despite its awesome MMA inspired fight scenes, the film was a letdown at the box office due to its troubled production.
With Sleeping Dogs, Yen gets a chance to redeem himself and right the wrong of Special ID.
Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, check out the video below featuring clips from Special ID combined with the soundtrack of Sleeping Dogs (edited by our good friend Danny Ho) to get a feel of what the feature film could potentially look like.
Purchase the game Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition for PS4 today by CLICKING HERE.
SOURCE: Deadline
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