The film adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog, which hit theaters this past Valentine’s Day, was a critical and commercial success. It was successful enough, in fact, that some called it the best video game film of all time (a very low bar to reach, admittedly), a sequel has been officially announced, and it even inspired a pair of shoes for crying out loud.
Oh, and the production company behind the film, dj2 Entertainment, is now moving on to adapt Disco Elysium into a television show.
Disco Elysium hit PC back in October, macOS just this past April, and is currently in the works for Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
The game has won several awards. It won four different awards – a BAFTA, a DICE Award, GDC 2020 Award, and an award at The Game Awards 2019 – for just its writing alone, so if you’re not familiar with the game, that alone should give you the impression that it would translate well to another format.
It also won awards for best music, best RPG, best Indie game, and a few awards for best debut game for developer/publisher ZA/UM.
The show (or potential show, considering the instability of show business) is in the earliest of the early stages, which means that approximately zero details have been hammered. There is no writer as of yet, nor has it been shopped to any potential networks or streaming services.
Disco Elysium, on the surface, is about a detective solving crimes, and which side of the law the detective adheres to is all up to the player. However, there’s a much deeper mechanic that deals with how the player customizes the protagonist, and it’s hard to imagine that part of the game being translated to a television show. It’s probably a safe bet that the show will abandon that aspect of the game entirely and simply make a detective show using the game’s unique characters.
If this show does materialize and finds some success, we’ll be seeing more from dj2 Entertainment. They already have licenses for Sleeping Dogs, We Happy Few, Vampyr, Life is Strange, and other titles.
Anything in that list pique your interest? As a big fan of martial arts and Asian cinema, I’d love to see something based on Sleeping Dogs. For now, I’m just ecstatic that we’re getting Disco Elysium. We’ll keep you updated on how the show is shaping up as more news is released.
