TOHO announced recently that they will premiere the live-action Hollywood adaptation of the Monster Hunter video game on March 26, 2021 in Japan. It will be screened in IMAX 3D, MX4D, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema.
The North America release of the film is scheduled to April 23, 2021 as revealed in its recent video teaser. It was tentatively scheduled for December 30 but both TOHO and Sony Pictures Entertainment have decided to delay the premiere to next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was originally planned to premiere on September 4, 2020.
The film started production around October 2019 and wrapped up last December. The film was shot in Namibia as well as parts of Cape Town in South Africa. The film’s budget is projected to be at USD60 million.
Screen Gems describes the film:
Behind our world, there is another: a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When Lt. Artemis (Milla Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers are transported from our world to the new world, the unflappable lieutenant receives the shock of her life. In her desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers and unstoppable, revolting attacks, Artemis will team up with a mysterious man who has found a way to fight back.
Milla Jovovich plays the film-original character Lt. Natalie Artemis. Jovovich has also starred in the live-action film adaptation of Resident Evil—another CAPCOM game—as lead female character Alice. Martial arts actor Tony Jaa (Ong Bak movie series) is cast as “The Hunter”. Ron Perlman (Hellboy film series, Pacific Rim) is also cast as Admiral, the leader of The Hunter’s crew. T.I. Harris (Ant-Man and its sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp) will play the sniper Link, Diego Boneta (Pretty Little Liars) will play Sergeant Marshall, and Hirona Yamazaki (live-action Kami-sama no Iu Toori) plays the Handler.
The Monster Hunter franchise began in 2004 and as of February 2018, more than 46 million copies of the games were sold from its first game until the recent.
Monster Hunter: World officially released worldwide on both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on January 26. In its first three days, around 5 million copies have been shipped worldwide which officially sets a new record for the franchise. Monster Hunter: World also broke sales records in the franchise selling 12 million copies worldwide as of May 10, 2019.
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, its latest expansion features a new story that starts after the main events of the first game. It was released September 6, 2019 for both PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. It was also released for PC via Steam on January 2020.
Source: ANN (with info from Raven)