Mississauga, Ontario’s Simu Liu says he’s trying to make a film adaptation of the beloved Sleeping Dogs game.
On X (Twitter), a fan posted about wanting both a sequel to the acclaimed 2012 action-adventure title, as well as a movie adaptation, and asked the Canadian Shang-Chi star if he would play protagonist Wei Shen. In response, Liu said he’s currently “working with the rights holders to bring Sleeping Dogs to the big screen!”
Working with the rights holders to bring Sleeping Dogs to the big screen!
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) January 30, 2025
Quickly, this lit up the gaming community with excitement, given the love for Sleeping Dogs. Developed by the now-defunct Vancouver-based United Front Games, Sleeping Dogs garnered positive reviews for its well-realized open-world Hong Kong setting, brutal Batman: Arkham-style martial arts combat and morally grey story about a police officer (Wei) going undercover in a Triad organization.
Interestingly, the game was originally confirmed in 2017 to be getting an adaptation starring Hong Kong action legend Donnie Yen (Ip Man). Over the years, Yen had said he was still trying to make the film, but ultimately, he confirmed earlier this month that the project had been scrapped.
“I spent a lot of time and did a lot of work with these producers, and I even invested some of my own money into obtaining the drafts and some of the rights,” Yen told Polygon. “I waited for years. Years. And I really want to do it. I have all these visions in my head, and unfortunately… I don’t know, you know how Hollywood goes, right? I spent many, many years on it. It was an unfortunate thing.”
As for Liu, it doesn’t appear that he plans to star as Wei. In a separate tweet, Liu said his first step, should he get a greenlight, would be to contact Wen, followed by Will Yun Lee (The Good Doctor), the actor who portrayed Wei in the game. It’s unclear if Liu would portray Wei should the actors be unwilling or unavailable or if he simply intends to play someone else.
That said, Liu acknowledged the struggles of trying to pitch the game to executives, stating that “so few film projects make it from pitch phase to greenlight.” Despite all of that, though, he said that “everyone’s overwhelming love of Sleeping Dogs here has really given us life.” He added that he’d love to first make a movie before a proper sequel to the game.
So few film projects make it from pitch phase to greenlight. Pitching execs who don’t understand the game has been tiring. Everyone’s overwhelming love of Sleeping Dogs here has really given us life!
First a movie, then a sequel game for everyone… that’s always been the dream. pic.twitter.com/g84r9Lf0SI
— Simu Liu (@SimuLiu) January 31, 2025
At one point, United Front and publisher Square Enix had been planning a direct sequel with Wei, but that was ultimately canned in favour of a spin-off multiplayer game called Triad Wars, which was itself cancelled in 2015. (Why these companies thought that fans actually wanted a multiplayer spin-off instead of a proper single-player sequel is anyone’s guess.)
Given that United Front is sadly no more, it’s unclear who would even make a hypothetical sequel, as well as whether Square Enix would actually greenlight one. That’s to say nothing of whether the actual adaptation will happen. Hopefully, a Marvel star can make something work out.
Image credit: Square Enix
Source: Simu Liu (@SimuLiu)
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