Today, Ubisoft Motion Pictures, the film and television studio of Ubisoft®, announced Academy Award® winner Stephen Gaghan will write and direct the upcoming “The Division” film.
Gaghan won an Academy Award® for writing “Traffic” and was nominated for his work on “Syriana,” which he both wrote and directed. His latest directorial effort, “Gold,” comes out January 2017. He joins Academy Award® nominees Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal on the project, which is based on the fastest-selling new video game franchise in history.
“We are really excited to bring Stephen’s unique vision of the game to film audiences around the globe,” said Gerard Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, Ubisoft Motion Pictures.
“We can’t wait for Stephen’s remarkable passion and talent to bring the astonishing world of The Division to life,” added Matt Phelps, Vice President and Head of Development, Ubisoft Motion Pictures.
“I’m excited to work with Ubisoft Motion Pictures and collaborate with their team at Massive Entertainment to bring The Division to the big screen, they’re great guys, exceptionally creative, and willing to take risks,” shared writer and director, Stephen Gaghan. “The game has been an enormous success, in large part due to the visual landscape they created, their vision of a mid-apocalyptic Manhattan. It’s immersive, wonderfully strange, and yet familiar, filled with possibilities. It’s also remarkable to be able to collaborate with Jessica Chastain and Jake Gyllenhaal early in the process. We all feel the story Ubisoft created is more relevant than ever.”
Ubisoft Motion Pictures will develop with Jake Gyllenhaal’s and Riva Marker’s (“Beasts of No Nation”) Nine Stories and Jessica Chastain’s Freckle Films. The announcement comes after the critically-acclaimed Tom Clancy’s The Division® video game, developed by Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment studio, sold more copies in its first 24 hours of availability than any previous title in Ubisoft’s history** and recorded the biggest first week ever for a new video game franchise***.