Cyberpunk 2077 Movie Officially Isn't Re-telling CDPR's Game

Thank God, Cyberpunk 2077 Movie Isn't An Adaptation Of The Game CD Projekt Red Published Oct 16, 2026, 9:09 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life 3, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com Sign in to your TheGamer account CD Projekt Red is developing a live-action Cyberpunk 2077 movie in collaboration with Paramount, and it has just confirmed in an interview with Polish outlet PAP Biznes that it won't be an adaptation of the game, but a wholly original story. "At this point, we can only say we definitively don't want to make a film adaptation of the game," co-CEO Michał Nowakowski said (via GamesRadar+). "We want to tell a story in the world of Cyberpunk, but it won't be a 1:1 translation of the game's story." It's an approach we've already seen work wonders for Fallout, and one that's now been confirmed for Prime Video's upcoming Mass Effect series. Even the latest Resident Evil movie has found success by telling its own story, albeit in a separate continuity inspired by the games. Is This The Way Forward For Video Game Adaptations? I've never been particularly keen on adapting games 1:1, and I think Hollywood would be better off treating them as sandboxes for original stories rather than scripts waiting to be filmed, so it's a relief to see so many studios opt for the Fallout approach instead. Both mediums are already visual, and trying to condense dozens of hours of interactive storytelling into a 90-minute movie is a recipe for disaster. It's like taking an entire season of Breaking Bad and cramming it into a single film. You're going to lose crucial details and smaller character moments, not to mention that fans will compare every single change to the source material under intense scrutiny. There's a reason the best episode of The Last of Us was the Bill and Frank flashback, which fleshed out both characters in a way that just wouldn't have worked in the game. That's not to say games shouldn't be adapted, but the best opportunities lie in exploring the worlds developers have created rather than revisiting stories people already know and making them worse. Fallout can revisit the West Coast while Bethesda busies itself on the East. Mass Effect can explore the aftermath of the Reaper War without retreading Shepard's story and making everyone angry by deciding which choices were right — or whether Femshep was canon (it is). And Cyberpunk can peer beyond V and Johnny Silverhand, much like Edgerunners did. CDPR and Paramount remain tight-lipped on what exactly the Cyberpunk 2077 movie will look like, but a complement to the games that broadens Night City rather than retreading old ground is a far more tantalizing prospect. It's also a lot less likely to end up in that embarrassing, green-tinged corner of Rotten Tomatoes that so many video game adaptations stumble into. Released December 10, 2020 ESRB M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol Developer(s) CD Projekt Red Publisher(s) CD Projekt Red Engine REDengine 4 Genre(s) RPG, Action