Paramount Pictures is developing a live-action Cyberpunk 2077 movie in collaboration with CD Projekt Red. Deadline first reported the project, naming Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura as one of the key leads attached to the project [1, 2]. Joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski welcomed the partnership on X, pointing to shared creative ambitions for the franchise while holding further details for later updates [3, 4].
Paramount Develops a Cyberpunk 2077 Movie
The live-action adaptation marks a new step in CD Projekt Red’s push to bring its sci-fi role-playing world to theaters, following years of multimedia discussions across Hollywood [1]. Nowakowski confirmed the news on X [3]. While Paramount Pictures hasn’t set a release date or named a director, the studio has signaled strong interest in video games [1, 2].
“We’re excited about Paramount as a future partner who shares our creative ambitions for the Cyberpunk franchise,” Nowakowski said, adding that the studio looks forward to sharing more details at the appropriate time [2, 4]. CD Projekt Red offered no further details. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura brings background as a former Warner Bros. executive who helped sign The Matrix and Harry Potter films before leading work on the Transformers franchise for Paramount [3].
Studio followers watched CD Projekt Red branch into animation [3]. Paramount’s backing gives the planned Cyberpunk 2077 movie major Hollywood studio backing, connecting the game creators with experienced studio leadership as work gets underway on bringing the fictional city to live-action cinema. That collaboration arrives as major movie studios turn to gaming stories for fresh creative material [2, 3]. Although neither company has revealed whether the film will adapt the exact storyline of the 2020 role-playing title or introduce an original cast within the city, the partnership confirms that the setting will be brought to real-world sets [1, 2].
Night City Roots and the Relic Storyline
The game’s fictional universe is rooted in the tabletop role-playing game Cyberpunk 2020 created by Mike Pondsmith, who established the original dark lore that forms the foundation for Night City. Mike Pondsmith created the original setting. In the video game, players enter Night City as V, a mercenary who takes on dangerous contracts in an urban setting dominated by a powerful Japanese megacorporation. A heist goes terribly wrong for V [1].
V ends up with a stolen biochip known as the Relic inserted into their mental implant, keeping the mercenary alive while slowly overwriting their mind with the digital persona of Johnny Silverhand [1, 3]. Keanu Reeves portrayed the rebel rocker. Reeves gave both his voice and likeness to Silverhand, turning the rebellious musician into the most recognizable figure in the game’s marketing as players explored the dark corners of Night City. Casting details for the film haven’t appeared [1, 3].
Although Cyberpunk 2077 suffered a rocky launch back in 2020, years of game patches and a 2.0 system overhaul helped rebuild player trust following the title’s troubled debut on older console hardware [1, 3]. The game sold 40 million copies [1, 4]. Phantom Liberty added 15 million sales. Designer Paweł Sasko, who accepted Best Ongoing Game with Gabe Amatangelo at The Game Awards in 2023, said the expansion showed how multidisciplinary content teams helped developers deliver on their creative goals. Sasko explained that designers, writers, artists, and testers worked in pods on the same content pieces to make the expansion succeed where earlier studio teams had struggled [1].
Edgerunners Success and Video Game Adaptations
The live-action Cyberpunk 2077 project builds on successful multimedia experiments that began with anime, proving that viewers outside the core player base could connect with the franchise’s dark themes. Studio Trigger animated the Netflix series. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners debuted on Netflix in 2022 to strong viewership, drawing new viewers into the dark world [2, 3]. A second season airs later this month [3].
The animated release showed that original stories set outside V’s personal journey could draw fresh viewers into Night City while reviving player interest in the original game long after its first launch [2, 3]. Pawel Mileniczuk noted an earlier missed opportunity. The art director called the studio’s lack of involvement with The Witcher Netflix adaptation a “missed opportunity” when discussing the project during a tenth-anniversary interview for The Witcher 3 last year. By co-producing with Paramount, the studio keeps a hands-on role in shaping character portrayals and visual world-building [2, 3].
The film’s timing matches Hollywood’s growing interest in gaming properties, as studios look to replicate the crossover successes achieved by recent adaptations across major streaming platforms and movie theaters. Analysts told GamesIndustry.biz that Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil movie increased Capcom’s player engagement by 50% before and after its release. Amazon’s Fallout doubled concurrent Steam players. Studios now view live-action releases as powerful catalysts that can double back-catalog engagement and introduce video games to millions of viewers who don’t own gaming consoles or follow everyday gaming news [2].
Skydance Merger Shapes Paramount Game Adaptations
Paramount’s move into Night City follows a massive ownership shift completed earlier this week, altering the media landscape as major film and television giants consolidate their creative operations. The company completed a $111 billion acquisition. Paramount merged with Warner Bros. Discovery under the Skydance name, combining interactive gaming divisions and film studios under a single umbrella [2, 3]. Bobby Kotick joined the Skydance board [3].
As part of that merger, Paramount Games Studio and WB Games combined under Skydance management. Andy Gordon outlined a transmedia vision. “We want to meet consumers where they watch, play, and engage,” Gordon said, explaining that transmedia storytelling across video games and movies helps build long-term fandom in both the physical and digital worlds. Gordon pointed to opportunities connecting DC Comics stories with consumer products as Skydance expands its global footprint and pursues major game films across multiple media outlets. A Cyberpunk 2077 movie fits that plan [1, 2].
Paramount is juggling other game adaptations. The studio is preparing to release Street Fighter, co-produced with Legendary, on October 16. Paramount is also developing a Call of Duty film slated for 2028, with Peter Berg serving as director and co-writing the screenplay with Taylor Sheridan for a worldwide theatrical release. These concurrent productions show that Paramount has committed real studio funding to adapting popular competitive games for viewers in theaters worldwide as Hollywood embraces interactive games as prime source material [1, 2, 4].
Production Slate Surrounding the Cyberpunk 2077 Film
As film preparations begin, CD Projekt Red is managing several major game productions across its development teams, balancing future movie plans with active work on beloved video game franchises [1, 2]. The studio is making The Witcher 4. That team grew to 513 developers. Studio teams remain centered on advancing that fantasy project while preparing for future milestones on other fronts [2].
Meanwhile, CD Projekt Red’s Boston studio has begun early work on a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, currently referred to as Cyberpunk 2 as the team expands its core staffing [2, 3]. Recent disclosures count 184 sequel developers [3, 4]. The team approaches close to 200 people [3]. Creator Mike Pondsmith said that the game won’t use Night City as its main setting, opening the door to new environments that take players far beyond the borders of the original game [1]. Reports from Eurogamer indicate that the sequel adds a second city alongside familiar lore, with developers describing the new location as “Chicago gone wrong” to give players a fresh dark backdrop [3].
Because the movie project is still in early stages, big questions linger over whether the film will retell V’s journey or craft a completely separate story within the tabletop lore created by Pondsmith [3]. Paramount hasn’t announced a release window [1, 2]. Viewers will also be watching to see whether Keanu Reeves signs on to play Johnny Silverhand on the big screen [3]. For now, the partnership brings CD Projekt Red’s sci-fi world to Hollywood, giving fans their first live-action look at Night City as the studio expands its creative reach across films and games. The adaptation opens a fresh chapter [1, 2].
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- ONLINE NEWS Purchese, R. (2026, October 9). Live-action Cyberpunk 2077 film reportedly in development, with CD Projekt Red collaborating with Paramount to make it. Eurogamer. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Peters, J. (2026, October 8). Paramount is making a Cyberpunk 2077 film. The Verge. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Gematsu. (2026, October). Cyberpunk 2077 live-action film in development at Paramount Pictures. Gematsu. [Article Link]
