Castlevania TV producer wants to make an R-rated Mega Man movie

Despite the fact that most video game movies haven’t turned out too well, Hollywood continues to scour gaming archives for content with name recognition. Could Mega Man be next?

Adi Shankar, the executive producer of movies like Lone Survivor, Dredd, and The Grey, is currently working on an animated television adaptation of the late ‘80s video game Castlevania for Netflix. In an interview with WGG, the filmmaker revealed that he “would love to do a hard-R Mega Man” movie, which, while just speculative right now, still sounds like it has loads of potential.

I’m imagining a gritty, Bourne-style film in which Mega Man fights his way through a futuristic city, his arm cannon (the Mega Buster) blasting all the way. If you’ve seen what Shankar did with his unauthorized fan film featuring the Power Rangers from 2015, you might have a sense of what he could do with a live-action Mega Man movie.

But if a Mega Man film doesn’t work out, Shankar has an idea for an animated series based on a different video game. “Contra would be amazing if Stallone and Schwarzenegger voiced Bill and Lance,” he said. Oh, great. Now I’ll have to spend the rest of my life being disappointed if that doesn’t happen because it’s so damn perfect. Thanks a lot!

In the meantime, you can read our editorial about whether we really need another Mega Man game.

Image: Capcom

Ben is an entertainment journalist who has written about movies online for nearly a decade. He loves the Fast & Furious franchise, prefers Indiana Jones to Star Wars, and will defend the ending of Lost until his dying day. He shook Bill Murray's hand once (so he's got that going for him, which is nice). Ben lives in Los Angeles with his wife.