Chris Pratt's COWBOY VIKING NINJA Film is Still in Development and It's Gonna Be "Really Fantastic"
We haven't really heard that much about Chris Pratt's feature film adaptation of the comic Cowboy Viking Ninja since it was first announced back in 2014. I wasn't sure if it was still in development, but according to Pratt, it is, and it's shaping up to be something "really, really fantastic."
During an interview with Collider, the actor offered an update on the project saying:
"It’s still in development. It’s definitely no joke. We’ve got a deal and we’re moving forward. It’s going to be [with] Universal. It’s going to be really, really fantastic … We don’t have a director. It’s together, it’s being put together. But we’re in the process of talking to directors."
This is a project that I've really been looking forward to seeing because it's a great comic that tells a unique story.
The comic was created by writer A.J. Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo, and follows a character named Duncan, who is part of a secret government program that turns schizophrenics into assassins. Duncan comes through the program with the badass skill sets and personalities of a Cowboy, a Ninja, and a badass Viking. Most of the patients that are involved in the program are sent back to an insane asylum, but Duncan escapes and uses his skills to track down the billionaire who masterminded the program.
The script for the film was written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick‘s (Deadpool) and it was originally set up at Disney, but they ended up passing on it because it was too edgy for them. Director Marc Forster was also attached to direct the film early on, but that obviously didn't work out. It's good to hear that the project found a new studio home and that it's still moving forward.
Here's more of a detailed plot summary from the comic:
Duncan is the result of a secret government program to create soldiers for the war on terror. This experimental regimen conscripts people suffering from multiple personality disorder and turns them into “triplets,” highly lethal operatives possessing three distinct personalities drawing from warrior/tough guy archetypes. Duncan serves as the reader’s entry point into a complex web of espionage and violence that grows more intriguing as we are let in on exactly what’s up with Duncan, the people who want to drag him back into the fold, and the rest of the triplets that remain at large.