Daniel Vávra, co-founder of Warhorse Studios and a lead behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 as well as its 2018 predecessor, is reportedly no longer working as creative director – on the contrary, he has reportedly stepped down to focus on a televised adaptation of the RPG series.
The news comes via CzechCrunch (translated by DeepL and Google), where studio CEO Martin Frývaldský explains that Vávra has a new role – the creation of a live-action Kingdom Come film. He's also apparently working on the script himself, with the Warhorse boss outlining how the studio has been planning to move the RPG series' brand away from video games for quite some time now.
He says that, while Kingdom Come has been featured in concerts, comics, and tourism, the big screen has attracted developers the most. That's why he and Vávra are hoping to turn the title into a TV adaptation – whether that's a TV show or a movie, as hoped, hasn't been determined, but it seems there is a draft script.
Frývaldský emphasizes that this isn't just a cut from the games, either, but a far bigger project.
According to the CEO, negotiations are already underway, and Warhorse doesn't simply want to sell the rights of Kingdom Come away – the devs want the potential movie to be what they envision it to be.
As for how this affects the studio's setup, Vávra is allegedly moving on from leading any games, with Frývaldský confirming he won't be on any future game-shaped projects to try something different with the planned film.
Warhorse hopes to reach a similar audience with its future Kingdom Come adaptation as it did with the games – no easy feat, considering how Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 sold over a million copies in its first 24 hours. The devs want it to be well-received globally, too.
It's all been in the making for a while as well, with initial plans taking off before COVID. Now, they've all returned to the idea of a film or TV version with greater motivation.
Here's hoping it all works out. It's never easy bringing games to the screen (I'm looking at you, Return to Silent Hill), but Kingdom Come does have a solid enough story that I could personally see it working. Fingers crossed.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is scratching my Knight of the Seven Kingdoms itch
