A Duke Nukem movie from the makers of Cobra Kai is on the way

[midian182]

In brief: In a case of good news, bad news, the infamous Duke Nukem is being turned into a movie. Given how awful most video game adaptations turn out and the shallow source material, much of which hasn't aged well, that's the bad news. The good news is that it's being made by the same team responsible for the excellent Cobra Kai, a series that brought new enjoyment and relevance to a decades-old franchise.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Legendary Entertainment, the company behind Dune and Godzilla, has picked up the Duke Nukem film rights from Gearbox and now plans to make a movie starring the character. Cobra Kai creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg are said to be producing the project.

This writer loved 1996's Duke Nukem 3D—there were two 2D games before it. The FPS was a popular choice when playing LAN games with friends, fighting for screen time alongside the original Command and Conquer.

Duke had plenty of quotable catchphrases, even if they did originate from movies. His famous "It's time to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all outta gum" was a version of the line said by Roddy Piper in John Carpenter's 1988 classic They Live.

The follow-up, Duke Nukem Forever, spent 14 years trapped in development hell, only to be panned by critics and gamers alike when it arrived in 2011.

This isn't the first report of a Duke Nukem movie. John Cena was supposedly in talks to play Duke in a film produced by Michael Bay's company back in 2018. The former wrestler is excellent as the star of Peacemaker, a character who shares some of Duke's traits. There were also attempts at a Duke Nukem movie in the 2000s (twice) and once in the 1990s.

Duke Nukem is often considered one of those "of its time" games, a bit like Leisure Suit Larry, containing politically incorrect humor that's unlikely to translate well into a movie today. But the makers would likely go down the self-aware route and make Duke a bit of a washed-up loser struggling to cope in the modern world who eventually gets his life back on track, not totally unlike Cobra Kai's Johnny Lawrence.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/94920-duke-nukem-movie-makers-cobra-kai-way.html

 

[Lounds]

About 2 decades late lol.

 

[psycros]

I think the assessment is probably 100% accurate, and the movie 100% unnecessary.

 

[Irata]

Big doubts they‘ll be able to make a proper Duke Nukem movie in today‘s climate.

But the makers would likely go down the self-aware route and make Duke a bit of a washed-up loser struggling to cope in the modern world who eventually gets his life back on track

Yeah…nope.

 

[stewi0001]

No desire for a Duke Nukem movie, but I will say that looks wise John Cena would be a good fit.

 

[Dr Roboto]

I loved this game so much went it came out. The non-politically correct nature of the game was hilarious and so much fun. A fresh change from W3D and Doom. I still have fond memories playing it for endless hours. The idea that you could interact and destroy many items in the world was pretty novel at the time.

That said, IMO, Duke is best left in the past. It would never fly in today's culture and I just can't see how it could be made and still be fun. Not all things need rebooted.

Hail to the king, baby!

 

[emmzo]

"...containing politically incorrect humor that's unlikely to translate well into a movie today." Yep, the good times are gone and seeing a woke Duke will make my eyes bleed.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

I think you guys are forgetting something. The Cobra Kai series is as popular as it can be in today's climate. So, why would they hold anything back in the Duke Nukem remake?

The Cobra Kai series isn't politically correct...is it?

 

[ScooterVNeuter]

Guaranteed fail.

 

[emmzo]

I think you guys are forgetting something. The Cobra Kai series is as popular as it can be in today's climate. So, why would they hold anything back in the Duke Nukem remake?

The Cobra Kai series isn't politically correct...is it?

Duke is not Johnny Lawrence! Trying to clone the Cobra Kai character shows these guys have limited perspective and no fking clue. A fail in my book, but then again I'm an old timer, I don't like 90% of todays entertainment.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I'm getting bad flashes of Guile from Street Fighter.

 

[spydercanopus]

Imagine Duke interacting with today's youth. It will be an instant classic.

 

[Hexic]

I'm convinced that nobody producing this movie will have the balls to give Duke justice, in his OG-very un-PC mannerisms.

Waste of a movie if they can't make it accurate. But everyone knows society's snowflakes and Hollywood can't compute humor for humor's sake anymore.. some genetically confused teenager will start a movement against it.

 

[Aus spot]

Duke's back baby and he ain't no woke mother--bleep--. Duke's gunna show the weak how America never gonna be trampled on by weakminded fools or alien parasites.


A perfect movie for approx 50% of America. But if ot goes ahead its going to play like the movie demonition man or the one with Hulk Hogan, which is totally against the charactor

 

[p51d007]

Yeah, good luck with that. With the hollyweirdo WOKE attitude of today, there is NO WAY they could make a movie that would "honor" the Duke Nukem heritage. Just the "shake it baby" would be enough to trigger some of them.

 

[Puiu]

I don't see how they can make a movie like this nowadays.