Splinter Cell Movie Is Reportedly Dead, Producer Admits Team “Just Couldn’t Get It Right”

It has been a long time since we heard any news about Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell movie — so long, in fact, that it may come as no surprise to hear that the entire project has reportedly been cancelled (thanks for the heads up, Eurogamer).

That is according to one of the producers formally attached to the project, Basil Iwanyk, who, in an interview with The Direct, described the adaptation as “one of the ones that got away”.

While discussing the 10th anniversary of the John Wick franchise (on which he is also a producer), Iwanyk said that the Splinter Cell movie was “going to be great”, but the team “just couldn’t get it right, script-wise, budget-wise”.

You’ll find his full answer below:

That movie would have been awesome… Just couldn’t get it right, script-wise, budget-wise. But it was going to be great. We had a million different versions of it, but it was going to be hardcore and awesome. That’s one of the ones that got away, which is really sad.

The Splinter Cell movie was announced over a decade ago, with Tom Hardy set to take on the starring role and Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, The Bourne Identity, Road House) set to direct. It’s a pretty solid pairing and one that we could see working in an action-heavy adaptation. But the lack of any official word in recent years means that today’s news isn’t all that surprising.

Of course, this isn’t the end of all Splinter Cell adaptations. Netflix’s animated take on the series, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, got its first teaser last month, giving us our first peek at Liev Schreiber’s Sam Fisher.

What do you make of this cancellation? Were you still looking forward to a Splinter Cell movie? Let us know in the comments.