Explosive Video Game Franchise Coming To Theaters With DC Director At The Helm

Soto brought us the first Latino superhero in the DCU, and, for those of you who have not seen Blue Beetle, he did a fantastic job. The movie does a great job of telling us the origin story of Jaime Reyes, while also focusing intently on the rich culture of Mexican Americans in Texas. For fans, it is excellent news that Soto will be directing another Latino hero, Rico Rodriguez, in Just Cause. 

The film has been in pre-production for several years. Finally, Universal has taken on the film as part of its video game adaptation collection. Universal is also responsible for The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Many filmmakers and production companies are excited to see video game films replacing superhero films, and Just Cause is no exception. 

Kelly McCormick and David Leitch, of the 87North production company have first-look rights, and are expected to produce Just Cause when it is developed. These two are responsible for The Fall Guy, Nobody, and Bullet Train, the latter of which Leitch also directed.

The company is known for coaching stars to perform for their own fight scenes, giving cinematography a more realistic look, which just makes for better film. 

All of this news means we should be able to expect great things from a Just Cause film. Though the video game, and all four of its sequels, has its detractors in terms of bugs and boring missions, the storyline has won favor with critics and gamers alike.

Indeed, this narrative may be better suited to film than the video game world. 

The central figure of Just Cause is Rico Rodriguez, a Latin American special operative working for a government organization called “the Agency.”

Players view the world through Rodriguez’s eyes in this third person shooter and are tasked with completing dozens of missions aimed at taking down a Caribbean dictator. Of course, Rodriguez must do whatever is necessary, and he has “just cause.” 

The storyline of the first game involves President Salvador Mendoza, who is believed to be in possession of weapons of mass destruction. Rodriguez lands on the island of San Esperito to join his Agency superior, Tom Sheldon, and fellow agent Maria Kane, who are already on the island.

There, the crew teams up with an organization of guerrilla warriors. They also find themselves making alliances with the Rioja drug cartel. Again, they have just cause for these alignments. 

Why? Well, it seems President Mendoza is in league with a rival drug cartel, the Montanos.

The goal of the team is to take out Mendoza and the cartel, while, ideally, not becoming too mired in the blood, death, and destruction guerrilla warriors and cartel thugs are so prone to wreak. Even with just cause, this mission can get sticky. 

The game spans hundreds of square miles, with gorgeous landscapes and spectacular action sequences. It is not hard to imagine how much fun Just Cause can be as a film. Can’t you just see Oscar Isaac in this role? Or maybe Edgar Ramirez? Here’s hoping.