Sleeping Dogs Movie Director Explains Why The Adaptation Is Taking So Long

Like many video game movies, Sleeping Dogs seems stuck in development hell. Even though it looked like progress on this adaptation of the cult-classic action game was once again picking up when Shang-Chi star Simu Liu started teasing new developments last year, and Timo Tjahjanto (Nobody 2) was later announced as the director, there's been little word since on whether the film will ever get off the ground. What's taking so long? According to Tjahjanto, the slow approach is by design.

"Trust me when I say Simu and I are doing our best to slowly make this come into fruition," Tjahjanto wrote on X/Twitter. "Trying to stay as loyal to Wei Shen's tale while adding layers to make the narrative more fitting into a feature film is not an easy task. We're taking our time to make the best version of [Sleeping Dogs] the movie."

Sleeping Dogs isn't exactly a complex story, as the 2012 game saw undercover cop Wei Shen's loyalties tested after he infiltrated a Hong Kong triad and found himself in the middle of a gangland civil war. It's a fairly standard tale for a game inspired by Hong Kong action movies, unless Tjahjanto is trying to weave in the DLC's story, which introduced an undead army and magical tea.

Sleeping Dogs is hardly the first video game adaptation to simmer in the background, as dozens of other projects are currently in varying stages of development. One notable example is the Ghost of Tsushima movie, which Chad Stahelski has been attached to direct for several years now; last we heard, Stahelski said a script was ready.

That was in 2023, and with the John Wick director currently working on finishing up the new Highlander movie starring Henry Cavill, don't expect to see Jin Sakai in the live-action flesh anytime soon--at least an anime adaptation of the popular samurai open-world game will land in 2028.