Fans will soon get to see Henry Cavill’s take on Warhammer 40,000, currently in development at Amazon Studios. While Cavill is deeply involved in bringing this physical miniature wargame to life, some may forget his previous interest in adapting a video game into a Netflix project. In 2021, the avid gamer in Cavill expressed a desire to bring Red Dead Redemption 2 to the screen.
The Man of Steel actor is a stickler for staying faithful to the source material, something that drove him out of The Witcher series after Season 3. Cavill is gearing up for roles in two upcoming spy thrillers—Argylle and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
Henry Cavill’s Red Dead Redemption 2 Dream Remains Unrealized
When Henry Cavill attended the Madrid premiere of Netflix’s The Witcher Season 2 in 2021, he passionately talked about his interest in video games. During an interview, Gamereactor asked him what game he would adapt and star in as a Netflix project. Cavill shared that the choice was tricky because he didn’t want to associate any gaming IP with Netflix and put himself in a difficult situation.
However, the Tudors actor eventually settled on Red Dead Redemption 2, a game he had recently started playing. The survival game was developed by Rockstar Games, the creators of the Grand Theft Auto games. It served as a prequel to Red Dead Redemption and marked the third entry in the Red Dead series, which started with Red Dead Revolver.
Despite being a latecomer to the 2018 release, Cavill found the gaming experience enjoyable enough to consider adapting it into a film. Cavill shared with Gamereactor:
“Well, that’s a tricky one, ’cause you’re tying both an IP and a company together, which is a tricky thing to do, so I certainly don’t want to put myself in any corners with that, but there are plenty of games out there… I’ve actually started playing Red Dead Redemption 2 -I know I’m a little bit late to that party- but I started playing it and I’m really enjoying it. And so, something like that I think would be fun to turn into a movie”.
The Enola Holmes actor further shared that it would be fun to play “Western Cavill” in such a movie adaptation. While no official announcement has been made regarding a film or series adaptation of the game, the prospect of bringing Red Dead Redemption 2 to the screen is in itself enticing. The game is considered one of the greatest video games ever made.
Popular Mechanic ranked it 24th in the publication’s 100 greatest video games. It ranked 28th in GamesRadar‘s Top 50 Video Games, 8th in IGN‘s Top 100 Video Games, and 15th in GQ‘s Best 100 Video Games.
Henry Cavill Leads Warhammer 40,000 For Amazon Studios
Henry Cavill exited The Witcher series as he felt that the writers strayed away from Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. He is determined not to let the same happen to the Warhammer 40,000 project. In his Instagram post in December 2022, Cavill thanked his girlfriend Natalie Viscuso for helping him find the perfect home for the project at Amazon. He shared, “Amazon will give us the freedom to be true to the massive scope of Warhammer.”
In December 2023, the Warhammer community page shared the update that Games Workshop and Amazon Studios have signed the full agreement, beginning the project’s next phase. They also reported that Cavill will lead an “elite band of screenwriters” to flesh out the proper stories, settings, and characters. Henry Cavill will also serve as an executive producer, “bringing his pen, sword and/or spear to the project.”
The Warhammer Community expects a mammoth-scale production, estimating that it may take two to three years before the project hits the screens.
