A Sleeping Dogs movie was announced back in 2017 with Rogue One star Donnie Yen, but it was recently confirmed by Yen himself that the project has already been canceled.
Even if that is the case, it looks like someone else is trying to get the film off the ground, and it’s none other than Marvel’s kung fu master Shang-Chi a.k.a. Simu Liu.
Simu Liu and Sleeping Dogs
The conversation around a Sleeping Dogs movie came out a few weeks ago when Donnie Yen revealed that the movie had been canceled in an interview for Polygon. This was shortly followed by Liu making a post about trying to get a Sleeping Dogs movie off the ground. Here’s what he said:
Liu doesn’t have any specifics as to who he’s been pitching the movie to, but he already has an idea of who to call if the movie ever gets a greenlight. In the same thread he writes, “If we actually pull this off, my first call will be to Donnie. The 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.”
What is Sleeping Dogs about?
The original Sleeping Dogs game was developed by United Front Games and published by Square Enix and it came out in 2012. The story focuses on Wei Shen, an undercover police officer who infiltrates the Sun On Yee Triad.
The game is classified as an action-adventure and has players hustling through the story with all kinds of martial arts and parkour skills. The game has also been commended for its narrative and its vibrant setting of contemporary Hong Kong.
When talking to Polygon, Yen explained his experience with getting the movie made, “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.”
2020s is the Decade of Video Game Adaptations
Though video game movies were considered ‘cursed’ for a long time, the 2020s have resulted in some very successful adaptations of video game properties like Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. There’s even success on the television front with critically acclaimed series like The Last of Us and Fallout.
When it comes to Sleeping Dogs, it’s unclear how they can make the film stand out, especially since there have been a lot of gangster action movies set in Hong Kong. Maybe Liu can do the simple elevator pitch of ‘The Departed but with kung fu’—maybe that can set it apart from anyone who thinks it’s just a John Wick knockoff.
For now, a Sleeping Dogs movie hasn’t been officially announced, but fingers crossed that Liu has enough star power to get the film going again.