A video game based on Joe and Anthony Russo's Extraction film franchise may become reality after a $400 million deal between the Russo's AGBO and Japanese game studio Nexon.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that the directors of Avengers: Endgame sold a 38% stake in AGBO, their independent film banner (Mosul, Cherry, Everything Everywhere All At Once), to Nexon. The deal values the company at $1.1 billion, with Nexon taking a $400 million minority investment.
AGBO and the Russo brothers are already in talks with Netflix to adapt Chris Hemsworth's Extraction into a video game, but will similarly work with Nexon to produce cross-platform collaborations based on its library of IP.
Extraction Gallery
With an Extraction video game almost certainly still in the idea phase, don't expect to hear details about gameplay or story for some time. Considering Extraction is a stunt-heavy action film, with a focus on gritty mercenaries performing clandestine missions, it's probably a safe bet that a game will similarly focus on action tropes and gunplay.
If AGBO makes a formal request, Nexon has stated it's ready to invest an additional $100 million in the first half of 2022.
Nexon is a Japan-listed video game publisher responsible for publishing Asian versions of games like Counter-Strike: Online, MapleStory, FIFA Mobile, and the Korean version of Final Fantasy 14. It is currently the third-largest video game publisher in Asia, behind Tencent and NetEase.
Extraction released on Netflix in April 2020, executive produced by the Russo brothers and directed by longtime stunt collaborator Sam Hargrave. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Extraction follows Tyler Rake, a mercenary tasked with rescuing the son of an imprisoned crime boss. Extraction 2 again follows Hemsworth's character, but plot details are scarce for now. A teaser trailer released during Netflix's Tudum event showed the story seemingly picking up from the end of the first film, as Rake climbs out of the river he fell in.
The Russo brothers also said they hope to expand Extraction into its own cinematic universe, following other characters like David Harbour's Gaspar.
In our review of Extraction, we said that it "works because its simple, yet sufficient, story allows the film's action to take center stage. If the stunt work were mediocre, the entire thing would be an utter waste of time. Thankfully though, Extraction boasts an exhaustingly awesome showcase of expertly choreographed fists, knives, guns, and explosions."
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/cutthroat mercenary for IGN.