We may not know when Beyond Good and Evil 2 is coming out, but we do know a film is being made about the cult action-adventure game for Netflix. The director of Detective Pikachu will bring the misadventures of investigative reporter Jade to life.
Reported by The Hollywood Reporter – and then confirmed by Netflix – the movie will be a hybrid of live-action and animation, directed by Rob Letterman, who helmed last year’s Detective Pikachu and 2015’s Goosebumps. The picture is being produced through Ubisoft’s Film and Television, the publisher’s TV and movie adaptations wing, and Jason Altman and Margaret Boykin are named as producers.
The adaptation is said to be early in development, and no writer is attached. Given that Detective Pikachu and Goosebumps both used an ample amount of CG, and other animated effects, Letterman seems like a good fit on a technical level for a hybrid picture. It should be noted this is now the sixth movie adaptation Ubisoft has in development, the likes of Tom Clancy’s The Division, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Just Dance, and Rabbids all having reached various stages of production over the last decade. The one movie the games studio managed to get onto screens was 2016’s Assassin’s Creed, which really speaks for itself.
The first Beyond good and Evil was released in 2003 – it’s a futuristic quasi-stealth game about spying on aliens to uncover a conspiracy in the 2500s. It didn’t do hugely well at the time, but developed a strong following that eventually led to the announcement of a prequel, Beyond Good and Evil 2, in 2017. An inconsistent drip of information since, including gameplay footage, went dry last year.
☠️☠️☠️ Some good news for Beyond Good & Evil fans ☠️☠️☠️
A Netflix feature film adaptation of @Ubisoft‘s epic space pirate adventure is in development! pic.twitter.com/H5uMIXhir6
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) July 31, 2020
On the games side, several executives recently left Ubisoft as part of a company-wide shuffle, following accusations from a number of employees of sexually inappropriate behaviour. As part of ongoing internal investigations, bonuses will now be tied to managers’ ability to create an inclusive environment.