Constantin Film’s “Monster Hunter,” the video game adaptation budgeted at around $60 million, will go into production starting in September, re-teaming Constantin with its “Resident Evil” star Milla Jovovich, director Paul W. S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt.
Meanwhile, Constantin is still working on a “Resident Evil” reboot, the shingle’s topper Martin Moszkowicz said at Cannes.
Like “Resident Evil: the Final Chapter,” which grossed $312 million worldwide, “Monster Hunter” will shoot in South Africa, in and around Cape Town.
“The crews are great there and, at least for a European company, it’s easy to get there: Same time zone, overnight flights. We are very much in a comfort zone of production,” said Moszkowicz.
Foreign distributors should not get too excited, however. Written by Anderson, who recently delivered a new screenplay draft, “Monster Hunter” will not come onto the open market, being the subject of a worldwide studio deal, according to Moszkowicz.
Related Stories
Two territories carved out of that deal will be Germany and Switzerland, where Constantin, Germany’s biggest independent production-distribution company, will release the movie itself.
Popular on Variety
Constantin will partner on “Monster Hunter” with “a big company” in Japan and another in China, both of whom will take equity in the project. These deals are “in the last stages of negotiation,” Moszkowicz added.
Beyond that, Constantin will finance “Monster Hunter” itself.
Special effects will be supplied by Toronto’s Technicolor-owned Mr. X, which worked on the “Resident Evil” franchise. Mr. X’s CEO Dennis Berardi will take a producer credit on the movie, which Moszkowicz said will be a highly stylish big screen adaptation of the video game.
“Paul has proven over and over he does stylish movies. It’s one of his big strong points. He can make a movie look good, is very much into visuals,” he added.
“Monster Hunter” is based, like “Resident Evil,” on a Capcom property. On Wednesday the Japanese developer and game publisher announced that “Monster Hunter: World” is its best-selling game of all time, shipping 7.9 million copies since its late January release.
“Monster Hunter” is envisioned as a film series: “We are in the business of brand creation,” Moszkowicz said.
Regarding a “Resident Evil” reboot, Constantin is “still working on it creatively,” Moszkowicz said, adding that one option could be a TV series. ”For us, the main thing is to get it right creatively so people don’t think it’s more of the same. That’s what it’s all about these days, a fresh, different approach.”
One thing looks certain: Anderson will not return to direct.
“He did six movies, earning $1.2 billion, 10 years of work; he felt it was time to move on,” said Moszkowicz.
