The movie based on the Tom Clancy videogame The Division already had our attention thanks to Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal signing on to star. Now, there’s more exciting news: it’s finally found a director.
Variety reports that John Wick co-director David Leitch has signed on to direct the Ubisoft game adaptation, which “is set in a near future where a pandemic virus is spread via paper money on Black Friday, decimating New York City and killing millions. By Christmas, what’s left of society has descended into chaos. A group of civilians, trained to operate in catastrophic times, is activated in an attempt to save who and what remains.”
Leitch has kept busy since co-directing Keanu slaughtering the entire Russian mob of New York City. He made the excellent Charlize Theron action movie Atomic Blonde, he’s just directed Deadpool 2, and he’s about to jump into Universal’s Fast & Furious spinoff centred on Hobbs and Shaw. Variety states that Leitch will direct the Dwayne Johnson/Jason Statham team-up first and look to shoot The Division at some point next year.
Another piece of encouraging news is that the report notes that Chastain and Gyllenhaal “have been with the film project since its conception and have been persistent in making sure that it matches the tone of the video game, while also reaching audiences who appreciate the actors’ own past work.” Those two actors aren’t exactly known for jumping onto terrible projects, so we’ve got pretty high hopes for this one.
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