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Devil May Cry film rights scooped up

Sony's Screen Gems to develop big-screen adaptation of Capcom's fantastical action series; Kane & Lynch screenwriter on board.

320 Comments

In 2002, Sony's Screen Gems label released Resident Evil, the first live-action film based on Capcom's blockbuster horror survival series. The series proved a hit, with three more films following: Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), and Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). According to Variety, the series, which stars Milla Jovovich, has grossed over $580 million worldwide to date.

Dante is ready for his close-up.
Dante is ready for his close-up.

This week, the Hollywood trade reported that another Capcom franchise is headed to the big screen. According to Variety, the film rights to the Devil May Cry series have been scooped up by Sony, which will once again release the series under its Screen Gems label. The company has hired screenwriter Kyle Ward, who also wrote the screenplay for the forthcoming big-screen version of Kane & Lynch, to pen the film's script.

It is unclear if the first Devil May Cry film will be based on the first game in the series. Released in 2001 for the PlayStation 2, the original installment told the tale of Dante, a demon hunter seeking to avenge the murder of his brother and mother. Three games followed in the series: Devil May Cry 2 (2003), Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (2005), and Devil May Cry 4 (2008).

A fifth game, simply titled DMC, is in development at Ninja Theory. As outlined in GameSpot's 2010 Tokyo Game Show preview, it will reset the series in the present day, with a new-look Dante sporting new weapons.

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Panko1

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Great, another great game gets spoiled by Hollywood film makers. This Kyle Ward will be the one having the easy job of copying the screenwriters from the game or will him just ruin the story by making his own Dante, haven't we already had enough from that new version of Devil May Cry from Ninja Theory? Hate when they make easy money by ruining the original story, would rather watch a parody than this. Why Capcom still selling their DMC franchise to everyone, haven't they done enough with Resident Evil. Capcom did a great RE movie once way better than that Hollywood one with Milla Jovovich, why can't they make their own DMC movie? Don't even tell me who will play or pretend to be Dante, don't wanna even hear. Just do me a favor, leave the first 3 games out of this, they're my favorite.

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shatner78

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Loved the Anime Series. But a Movie?!... i'll pass.

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DeviIHuman

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my name is dante lol

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emellylim

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Devil may cry 3 and 4 the story very nice suddenly devil may cry 5?! hello thats not the Dante i know and Vergil?! working together when did Vergil become so nice. By the way the first time i saw Dante spoke bad words?! thats not the Dante i want... but is i want to watch the movie....:(

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aleynathree

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If we talk about looks, Ian Somerhalder would be perfect, if it's set on DMC4. Or Hayden Christensen, if it's DMC3.

But there's no one as perfect as Reuben Langdon, who portrayed Dante on the last 2 games.

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samus_my_life

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I think that i would be playing DMC 1,2,3,4 Rather than playing this new DMC ....

playing as this new look of Dante make me sick .....

I hate All of who co-operate with changing dante look

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MrTakeda

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I think it should be based on the original DMC.

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MrTakeda

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If you can say "Lets rock baby!" like the original Dante, then your good enough! I just hope this aint gunna be a total fail... MAKE IT GOOD LIKE THE ORIGINAL DMC!!!

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Eruptflail

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They should cast some unknown guy for Dante, preferably someone who has played the games.

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exodiatheone

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I think they should use the guy who did the motion capture for Dante in DMC 3 and DMC 4.

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aleynathree

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<< LINK REMOVED >> he'd be perfect, the only problem: he's not a screen actor.

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greg_ros

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The only living person capable to be Dante in a movie ys Christian Bale.. I meen the real Dante, the original Dante, the son of Sparda, not that Emo-smoker-guy which Ninja-theory is selling as "the real Dante" (Ultimate Fail)

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BT2004

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I think Ryan Reynolds would be a better choice, afterall he is a smartass like Dante is.

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exodiatheone

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

I think they should use the guy who did the motion capture for Dante in DMC 3 and DMC 4.

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Lexaeus775

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no one alive is cool enough to play as dante

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albel112

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he hes not Stylish/cool.. then its capcoms fail..

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BT2004

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Yeah CGI seems the better way to do a movie on the series. And for those of you crying about the changes apparently this dante is from a parallel universe or some crap like that. I dont like the changes but ill still hire the game to see if its worth buying or not. Hopefully they get rid of as many bugs as possible.

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sunayoi

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;-)

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bwslfunk

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CGI please

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redmoonseven

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better yet make it in CGI.. i mean can they really do the stunt that Dante does without making obvious stunt movement flaws ("strings attached") ?

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redmoonseven

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you better make it as COOLl as Dante ;p

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slickmeister007

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Pity Hollywood are the crowd that wanna make this into the big screen. I don't like judging things without giving it a chance but I'm doing so now because i ADORED the DMC series since i first laid hands on it for the PS2, and still do to this day, but hollywood are a business and they just wanna make money off it so they're not gonna treat it with the love and respect it deserves. I hope i am COMPLETELY wrong, though. I really do..

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Panko1

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<< LINK REMOVED >> No you're not. It's all about using a great title to make easy money, they did it before and they will do it again.

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cachinscythe

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@konamicode92 Why? It's a REBOOT. Reboots aren't supposed to be exactly the same as the originals, else everyone would complain it's a remake or unoriginal or some other crap. Do you really think we wouldn't complain if Ninja Theory took the exact same models and coding and just put out a very similar game to DMC4 with a different story? I doubt it. We'd be claiming they were just repeating what the original developers had done. The Japanese game market has gone downhill. Japanese developed games are not nearly as popular as they used to be. Meanwhile, Western developed stuff has skyrocketed in popularity. That requires changes. I'm sure that as they continue with the series, Ninja Theory will make plenty of nods to the older games. Virgil will probably show up somewhere.

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Panko1

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Ninja Theory should have never touched other people's games they should make their own game but I don't think they have the balls to do it. If Japanese developers are going so bad why are westerns copying their work till today even on the movies?

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konamicode92

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@cachinscythe: I am angry about the change in Dante's looks but not because he simply looks different. There already has been a DMC game where Dante was younger and still had white hair so they shouldn't of changed that because it's confusing to the story. Also Dante didn't smoke in DMC3 so he should be smoking now. DMC3 sported Vergil, so this one should show Vergil too or they just confusing everyone. If they don't follow the story logic that has already been set up, then they ARE ruining it.

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papermun

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Thats why i hate smellywood

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papan_roy

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@cachinscythe: I totally agree with you about waiting for the game and the to come out before crapping on it. But game movies don't have a great track record. they ususaly do suck, so you can see where people's cynicism comes from. Case in point POP. @Lenighma: The movie should definitely be in cgi. No actor can capture Dante's charm. Can't wait for the trailers to be out. Good or bad, The movie's gonna be stylish.

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cachinscythe

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@boradis That's what we call "risk" my friend. You got a problem with it then learn to be okay with endless retreads of the same old ideas. Here's a thought: how about you try not to take entertainment so seriously that you talk about shooting people in the head over it? And how about all you people who act like Devil May Cry was a holy grail that shouldn't have been altered consider that DMC2 sucked and DMC4 was criticized for being too repetitive and that the original game hasn't aged all that well in most people's opinions? Or better yet, how about you wait until the game/movie gets released before you judge whether it's going to suck?

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cachinscythe

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@Sendmn23 If I go out and bleach my hair black, does that stop me from being the quirky hardcore gamer I am? If I choose to start wearing makeup, does that stop me from being who I am too? How about we wait and see if his PERSONALITY changes before we decide whether Ninja Theory is ruining him? Basing your opinion on someone based solely on their looks is very shallow--and sadly very prominent in today's society. And if originality is strictly about original gameplay mechanics, I can assure you there hasn't been an original game in the last decade outside of Katamari Damacy.

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SPJ4Topato

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Why god, WHY?! The Kane and Lynch jackass? Doesn't Hollywood read the reviews of the projects people they hire have worked on? Can't they tell when someone's writing smells like a dead horse in hot garbage? Why can't these executives just shoot writers like this in their heads and make the world a better place? Thank goodness for MVC3, but we DMC fans have been crapped on twice in the past year now. Whoever is making these decisions about the franchise is a TOTAL. RETARD

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deactivated-588d504214f11

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PLEASE do it in CGI!!! I can't imagine ANYONE in real life (hmm, unless it's some rare look-alike we don't know about?) who would play Dante!! PLEASE DO IT IN CGI!!!?

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Squeezitgirdle

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do it all CG like advent children and i'll bite.

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sringangel

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*facepalms* If it's animated movie its fine but movie film.......... hurr...........

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Sephiroth-X

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Kane & Lynch? Really? Instant failure.

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TheRealLisaAnn

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I would be more happy if someone other than $$$ony got this.

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DFBTG

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While I do love DMC (well, 1, 3, and somewhat 4), I'm not sure about it being a film. Could it work? Hell yeah. I think DMC 3 would work rather well. Especially because out of all 4 I think 3 had the best plot and characters. For simplicity's sake, 1 would be better. Either way, I suppose I'll hold off judgment until more is revealed. Still, hopes aren't high. Very few video game adaptions have turned out well in my opinion.

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TheBest88

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@MrHatnClogs just checked it...................................... WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT THA FECK

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MrHatnClogs

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@TheBest88 Go to the Kane and Lynch movie page on imdb.

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cachinscythe

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@CaptainVictory In addition, given all the complaining consumers do about a "lack of originality and creativity" in the entertainment industries, how on earth do we not feel hypocritical at all when we flip out at people changing up a story like RE for the big screen? Yeah, I know most of the elements featured in the films have been done before, but so have most of the elements present in the stories of the games. I just don't get it. I LOVE those movies. Anyway, we're all entitled to our opinions. And as a funny side note, given that RE has turned into an action movie franchise, maybe Screen Gems will make Devil May Cry into a horror film! :)

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NoremaC-_-

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i can tell this will either fail on the reviews, fail in commercialising, fail for the fans, fail for the general public or fail in all those examples. as its writen in stone

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cachinscythe

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@CaptainVictory I'm happy to hear SOMEONE acknowledge that it's not easy working in entertainment. I almost never hear that from gamers. I can see your point, but I still think it's kinda moot. The number of people that sees movies is significantly larger than the number of people that plays video games. (At least I'm pretty sure it is.) Therefore, to turn a substantial profit, the studios can't just play to the gamers. If they did, they'd probably suffer losses. And for all the complaining that gamers do about the RE movies, I can't help but feel they are a CLEAR demonstration of how video game movies can work. Take the basic premises, twist them in a way that allows you to make something a little different (in this case action movies out of horror games), but make sure you include plenty of nods to the games. If you think about it, "trapped in a mansion fighting zombies, spiders, and other freaks of nature" is a story that has been told so many times in Hollywood it just wouldn't WORK on the big screen. If you ask me, the only reason it actually worked in GAMING is because A) it featured a small twist (a virus was the cause, not supernatural hullabaloo) and B) there simply weren't any horror games on the market when RE released. (TBC)

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SovietKitteh

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White haired Dante; I can't see anyone acting him. Newly designed Dante; Sure I can see it, but it's not something I'd be willing to see at the Movies.

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lilrobda1

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What is the game to movie world coming to? Oh boy.

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KrazyFlasher

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Awesome! the games were cool, think of a film!

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UnknownPerson55

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they say "resident evil films" like it means something

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andiang

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Capcom is losing its edge. What a dull character. Seems like he's taking too much drugs.

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CaptainVictory

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@cachinscythe No offense taken. I understand your point and I agree, but, when they attempt to market it to a wider audience they begin to abandon what made the game great. In effect it becomes something entirely different. I mean look at Doom, the entire premise was changed from fighting demons from hell to some crazy failed experiment. Or the Resident Evil movies. While they did generate revenue the didn't really follow the games story and they made up a character entirely. No fan of the game wants to see that. So its a fine line that movie makers must walk and I'm sure it's challenging.

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hunter8man

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I lost interest when I saw it mentioned in the same breath as the Resident Evil flicks. I think I'll pass.

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