It’s been over three years now since Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain first signed on to star in a feature film adaptation of the video game Tom Clancy’s The Division, and it seems it may still be some time away from reaching the screen judging by the latest comments from director David Leitch (Deadpool 2), who has shared an update on the project during the press tour for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.
“We have The Division, which is an incredible property,” Leitch tells Collider. “Two great actors and producers on it—Jake and Jessica—we’re awaiting a script on it, and there’s a lot of people involved with that one, creative producers and actors, who have input on the script and then they have schedules, so we’ll see how that’s all going. For things to come together when these attachments happen it’s usually a miracle in a sense. But I think there is a motivation from Netflix and from Jake and Jessica and myself to make it happen. And as the material comes together, is it the movie we all want to make and are excited about? And hopefully it is. We all loved the pitch and we all loved that world.”
Leitch also spoke to Games Radar about how faithful the adaptation will be to its source material, stating that: “For me, the DNA of the game is great. The world is compelling and the visuals are stunning, but also the premise of the game has this human quality and positivity about it, in terms of restarting humanity. We want to stay true to those things. In terms of narrative, we’ll have to stray from the games, because it’s choose-your-own-adventure. We’ll have to pick a lane and we’re working on the script right now.”
SEE ALSO: Netflix acquires video game adaptation The Division starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain
The Division takes place in a near future where a pandemic virus has decimated New York City, killing millions as society descends into chaos. In an effort to save what remains, a group of civilians, trained to operate in catastrophic times, are activated.
