Speaking of the popular development studio, CD Projekt Red is reportedly completely uninvolved with the film’s production and release, despite actually owning the rights to The Witcher brand at present. Although it seems strange to leave out the studio that makes The Witcher a globally recognizable product, it’s possible the Polish developers are too busy with their upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 game. Given the reported size of Cyberpunk 2077, it would make sense that CD Projekt Red might simply have too much on their plate to balance movie responsibilities as well.
According to earlier reports, the Witcher film will function as a prelude to a number of television and movie-based features further down the line. Fans hoping for a continuation of the series that picks up where The Witcher 3 left off are unlikely to see that come to fruition in 2017, then, as a number of important Witcher 3 characters only surface over the events of the video games or were created by CD Projekt Red just for the video game adaptation.
It may be the case that The Witcher film doesn’t even need CD Projekt Red to succeed at this point, as Sapkowski’s stories are wildly popular in Europe, and The Witcher 3 sales have been so good. Many gamers consider The Witcher 3 to be a frontrunner for Game of the Year, and Baginski and The Sean Daniel Company are hoping the film can conjure up the same kind of overwhelming success.
Although live-action adaptations of video games have historically been poor investments, the strong, deep narrative of the Witcher games should be the right mix to break free from that negative connotation. Which actor do you think has the right mix of grit and charisma to play Geralt? Would you like to see CD Projekt Red play a role in the movie’s production? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Eurogamer Poland (via VG 24/7)
