Video Game movie adaptations have often been hit and miss affairs. For every Silent Hill there are a hundred Super Mario Bros. Even the Resident Evil game series, borne out a love of B-movie horror, has had huge problems making the transition to the big screen. However, with Alicia Vikander as our new Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and a forthcoming movie based on the Uncharted games it seems the adaptation train will keep on rolling. There’s a new name in town today, as reports are coming in that Jason Momoa will lead a film based on Avalanche and Square Enix’s Just Cause series.

A movie adaptation of the series was always on the cards. There’s a scant plot to propel lead character Rico Rodriguez through his various one-man revolutions. Each game (there have been three so far) features Rodriguez overthrowing a regime in a sun-drenched destination. The key gameplay elements include some dizzying physics – the trademark zipline attack allows the player to attach themselves (or anything) to anything else. Cue lots of high speed silliness that makes the game so much fun. That and the fact that almost everything can be blown up. It’s a marriage made in 80s action movie heaven.

Just Cause

The Wrap and Deadline share the spoils on this story. Momoa will team up with San Andreas director Brad Peyton and Master and Commander screenwriter John Collee. Together they’ll have a framework on which to build the next big thing in video game movies. However if Justin Kurzel, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard can’t make a decent fist of Assassin’s Creed it is likely that the thin threads of the Just Cause story will need to be compounded by a fun story and a lead actor with enough charm to stun a blue whale in the face.