The world of video game movies continues to expand with the announcement of a film version of the popular open-world series Watch Dogs. Starting with the debut game in 2014, Watch Dogs is set in various dystopian American cities throughout different time periods and the user is cast as a mysterious vigilante hacker who uses their tech skills to bring down evil corporations and other rival hackers. Noted for its distinct sandbox gameplay and unique spin on cyberpunk themes, Watch Dogs has blossomed into a multimedia franchise with books and comics.

Though video game movies were long a source of abysmal failure for the Hollywood machine, recent gaming adaptations have bucked that trend and delivered quality entertainment that truly understands the popularity of the gaming medium. Video game movies released in the 2020s, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Five Nights at Freddy’s, succeeded where others failed because they catered to fans of the games as opposed to the audience at large. The Watch Dogs adaptation has the chance to continue that trend, and the open-ended nature of the series is ripe for a big-budget movie.

The Watch Dogs Movie Latest News

Tom Blyth Is Tapped To Star

Months after the project was formally announced, the latest news sees the Watch Dogs movie cast its lead actor. Fresh off a starring role in the prequel film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, actor Tom Blyth has been tapped to lead the video game adaptation. Blyth joins his previously announced co-star Sophie Wilde, though nothing is known about the roles that either will be playing.

The Watch Dogs Movie Is Confirmed

The Project Was Announced In March 2024

As video game movies prove to be big moneymakers in the 2020s, an adaptation of Watch Dogs was announced in March 2024 that continues that trend. The popular open-world game will be brought to life by New Regency Pictures along with original game developer Ubisoft’s film and TV branch. Already, several notable names are attached in front of and behind the camera, with The Deep Dark‘s Mathieu Turi directing. The screenplay is being penned by Christie LeBlanc who previously wrote the 2021 Netflix sci-fi film Oxygen.

The Watch Dogs Movie Cast

Tom Blyth & Sophie Wilde Star

The cast of the Watch Dogs movie is only just taking shape, but there are already a few names attached. First, Talk to Me‘s breakout star Sophie Wilde has been tapped to appear but it isn’t known who she’ll be playing. Tom Blyth is attached to star, and there is some speculation that he’ll play the protagonist of the first game, Aiden Pearce. Alongside Pearce, a major supporting character is informant and fellow hacker Claire Lille. It’s possible that Wilde may be cast as Lille, but nothing is certain yet. There are more characters in Watch Dogs: Legion, but it’s unlikely that the first film will adapt the third game.

The known cast of Watch Dogs includes:

The Watch Dogs Movie Story

Which Game Will Be Adapted?

At this juncture, no story details have been revealed about the Watch Dogs movie, so it isn’t even clear which game will serve as inspiration. Logic suggests that the film will adapt the first game, which follows hacker Aiden Pearce who uses his tech skills to get revenge on the criminals who killed his niece. The story is set in a futuristic version of Chicago which is controlled by a new operating system that allows Aiden to access certain city services to his advantage.

The Watch Dogs game series includes:

Despite being an open-world game, the plot structure of Watch Dogs would perhaps best serve a feature film, and many of the extraneous side quests can be trimmed down for narrative simplicity. It’s also possible that the movie will bring in elements from the other games, and deliver a hybrid version of the story that touches on all three games. Sophie Wilde’s casting does offer intriguing possibilities, though it isn’t clear if she will play a new character that refocuses the narrative, or if she will be a supporting role to Aiden Pearce from the games.