Tom Hardy is Really Sad After Splinter Cell Live Action Movie Gets Canceled Because of Budget Problems

If you’re a Splinter Cell fan, you’ll be joining Tom Hardy in being sad. There was an announcement in 2012 for a live action adaptation for the Splinter Cell video game franchise. The film had Hardy on board to portray Sam Fisher, the iconic black-ops agent from the games. But despite years of fan anticipation and periodic updates, the project is now officially dead.

The movie adaptation of Ubisoft’s stealth-action video game series has seen its fair share of ups and downs, but now it’s officially gone. But this time it’s not franchise fans but also Hardy himself, who is left deeply disappointed by the loss. It seems like the video game side of this franchise isn’t the only one that’s doomed.

Tom Hardy Joins Splinter Cell Fans Worldwide In Feeling Despair

The idea for a Splinter Cell movie was first brought up in 2012, and Tom Hardy was cast as the iconic black-ops operative Sam Fisher. This casting choice immediately got fans on board for the project.

#SplinterCell live-action movie starring Tom Hardy is officially dead

(via @Thedirect) pic.twitter.com/O7WBXzV1lI

— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) November 14, 2024

Fans saw Hardy as an ideal match for the shadowy and intense world of Fisher, an NSA agent working for a covert branch called Third Echelon. The project attracted interest in the early 2010s, especially with Doug Liman, known for his work on Edge of Tomorrow, who was attached as the director.

But as the years rolled by with no official updates, people began to doubt the progress of the project. Producer Basil Iwanyk, who joined the project in 2013, recently spoke to The Direct and confirmed that the movie is indeed dead.

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.

In his own words, the team tried a million different versions of the script trying to create an action-packed story true to the franchse. But there were issues with the budget and the story that were ultimately too big.

Don’t Worry Tom, Even The Games Have Been Abandoned

For fans, this cancelation hasn’t just been about losing a potential movie. It has also felt like we lost a rare opportunity to revive the beloved franchise itself. The last main game in the series, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, was released over a decade ago in 2013.

Given Ubisoft have all but killed it as a game franchise, I was hopeful this could revive it.

That could have been phenomenal if written well

— Pena Cartel 🗿 (@PenaCartel) November 14, 2024

Since then Ubisoft has given us some updates and remasters, but the franchise has essentially been left abandoned. The sequel or remake to the original games has also not happened yet. And now fans are left wondering about Splinter Cell’s future in both cinema and gaming.

This also shines a light on a common problem with video game adaptations in Hollywood. While popular franchises like Super Mario and Resident Evil have seen box-office success, the transition from game to cinema hasn’t always been easy for titles with darker and more complex settings and stories.

Fans of Metal Gear Solid are all too familiar with this struggle, as their beloved series also remains tangled in pre-production issues. It’s a tough situation for directors and screenwriters who have to balance game lore and meet the expectations of fans.

Though the live-action film won’t be happening, Splinter Cell fans still have something to look forward to. Netflix is currently working on Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, an animated series starring Liev Schreiber as Sam Fisher, coming out in 2025.

Will we ever see another Splinter Cell game or a live adaptation? There seems to be no hope.