Jack Black is ‘ready’ for live-action Red Dead Redemption
The Super Mario Bros. Movie star Jack Black is ready for a live-action Red Dead Redemption movie or TV series, but will he star in it?
07th Apr 2023 08:36
Disney | Rockstar
Jack Black is ‘ready’ for live-action Red Dead Redemption
The Super Mario Bros. Movie star Jack Black is ready for a live-action Red Dead Redemption movie or TV series, but will he star in it?
07th Apr 2023 08:36
Disney | Rockstar
Are you ready for a rootin' tootin' adventure? Well, it sounds like you aren't alone, as Jack Black is all-in on a live-action Red Dead Redemption adaptation. We don't want to curse it, but as it feels like we're in something of a video game adaptation renaissance, Red Dead feels like a logical step.
With the likes of Paramount's Halo series and the Tom Holland-led Uncharted have been middling affairs, HBO's The Last of Us is the pinnacle of the genre and The Super Mario Bros. Movie has scored a massive audience score. Speaking of the Mushroom Kingdom, Black is ready to pull a revolver on Red Dead.
Jack Black wants a live-action Red Dead
Speaking to the BBC, Black discussed the rise of video game adaptations and explained, "I'm a fan of adaptations, when done right. The Last of Us was fantastic. And what's crazy is how loyal it is to the original source material. It's basically all from the game with just a couple of tweaks."
Black added, "There are some great games that have yet to be explored in television or film. Maybe there's going to be a Red Dead Redemption movie? There should be, because I think that [has] just as good or [an] even better story than The Last of Us."
His words also echo Henry Cavill's from way back in 2021, where the former Witcher star said he'd love to see Red Dead Redemption 2. Both stop short of actually saying they'd want to star, but just imagine a cast that boasted Cavill and Black.
Praising The Last of Us team for using 2013's game almost like a storyboard, Black was clearly a big fan of how close it stuck to the source material. As well as 2010's Red Dead Redemption, there's 2018's Red Dead Redemption 2. Both are universally praised, with the latter being called one of the best games ever.
Is a Red Dead adaptation coming?
Whereas Amazon looks like the home of video game outings thanks to the streaming giant being busy working on live-action Fallout and God of War shows, no one has shown a real interest in Red Dead...yet.
The success of The Last of Us sparked hopes that Red Dead could get a similar treatment, but with Rockstar's Wild West adventures being notoriously massive when compared to Naughty Dog's game, it's raised some questions about how things would work.
There have been similar discussions about Grand Theft Auto, with Take-Two Interactive's boss explaining there hasn't been a movie because it wouldn't be able to do the wide world of the games justice. Still, it's easy to imagine Red Dead being like a cross between Yellowstone and The Last of Us.
We imagine someone brewing up a live-action Red Dead in some form. The question is, would we follow the first game with John Marston or a prequel with Arthur Morgan? Either way, who else is picturing Norman Reedus as Marston?
About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.
