Tom Blythalready emergedas the future dictator of Panem in last year’s prequelThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,and now the up-and-comer has found his next major film project. Blyth will staralongsideSophie Wildein New Regency’s upcoming filmWatch Dogs,according toDeadline. The film will be an adaptation of the highly popular video game series of the same name from developer Ubisoft.
The roles for both Blyth and Wilde have not been fleshed out, but the film will continue the recent streak ofhigh-profile video game adaptations. The originalWatch Dogsgame was released in 2014. It was set in a near-future Chicago where nearly every aspect of the city’s electronic grid was connected and hackable, allowing the player to control bridges, traffic lights, security cameras, and a variety of other machines while making their way through an action-adventure storyline. The first game was followed by a sequel,Watch Dogs 2,set in San Francisco, and a third game,Watch Dogs: Legion,set in London. The premise seems to make for a solid film story and the games themselves have more than 50 million players combined.
Watch Dogswill be directed byMathieu Turi,known for the 2020 French sci-fi filmMeander.Turi will direct from an original screenplay byChristie LeBlancand revisions byVictoria Bata. The film’s producers includeYariv Milchan, the chairman and CEO of New Regency,Natalie Lehmann, New Regency’s president of motion pictures and television, andMargaret Boykin, the head of content atUbisoft’s film and television division.
Blyth Raised His Profile in ‘Songbirds and Snakes’
The London-born Blyth had a few minor roles in films such as 2010’sRobin HoodandBenediction,but it was his performance inThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesthat raised him to mainstream success. Blyth’s portrayal of a young Coriolanus Snow, who would go onto become the future tyrannical president of Panem inThe Hunger Gamesseries, garneredmostly positivereviews. AlongsideRachel Zegleras his eventual love interest Lucy Gray Baird, the duo helpedThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesgarner more than $330 million at the global box office against a budget of just $100 million.
Watch Dogsisn’t the only project on Blyth’s plate, as he is also starring as the outlawBilly the Kidin MGM+’s Western seriesBilly the Kid.The second portion of Season 2 premiered just days ago on the platform. Beyond this, Blyth will also be starring alonsgideRussell ToveyandAmy Forsythin the filmPlainclothesand an adaptation of the war filmA Farewell to Arms.
No release window forWatch Dogshas been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for more information.A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesis streaming now on the STARZ app.
