Splinter Cell is an iconic game franchise, one that fans have been hoping to see unfold in live-action on the big screen–though, sadly, that doesn’t look to be happening anymore.
The story follows a black-ops super spy named Sam Fisher working for the fictional agency “Third Echelon” under the NSA. The first entry landed in 2002 as an Xbox-exclusive title and has gone on to create seven different games.
The film adaptation was officially reported to be in development by Deadline in 2012, with it being revealed later that year that Tom Hardy was in talks to star as Sam Fisher himself.
In 2014, Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman was announced as the director of the film, which was being produced by Ubisoft and New Regency as an edgy PG-13 action filck.
There had been multiple updates throughout the 2010s regarding filming timetables, but every single one of those had missed their marks. For years, there’s been no further word on the status of the long-gestating Splinter Cell movie.
Splinter Cell Movie Is No Longer Happening
While promoting the tenth anniversary of John Wick, producer Basil Iwanyk, who signed on to produce the Splinter Cell film in 2013, confirmed that the previously announced live-action theatrical adaptation is now dead.
According to Iwanyk, the Tom Hardy-led movie is not happening anymore, as they “couldn’t get it right:”
“‘That movie would have been awesome… Just couldn’t get it right, script-wise, budget-wise. But it was going to be great. We had a million different versions of it, but it was going to be hardcore and awesome. That’s one of the ones that got away, which is really sad.”
The news that the Splinter Cell live-action adaptation was canceled is certainly going to break the hearts of fans worldwide. While it doesn’t mean there won’t ever be a movie, the wait for the hypothetical film just got exponentially longer.
In the meantime, fans can also look forward to Netflix’s animated series Splinter Cell: Deathwatch. The project, which stars Liev Schreiber, is set to drop at some point in 2025 and “offers a sharp new take on modern espionage in the hybrid-war era.”
On the gaming side of the equation, sadly, there’s been no word on a proper sequel in the works for a long while now. At the very least, a remake of the original game is in development (and isn’t canceled, despite what rumors claimed).
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