Open-world GTA-like game Sleeping Dogs is one step closer to the big screen as Shang-Chi's Simu Liu says the movie's landed a director

Square Enix's oft-forgotten cult game Sleeping Dogs is one step closer to being revived on the big screen, according to star Simu Liu, who's confirmed a director for the in-development flick.

For those out of the loop, 2012's Sleeping Dogs was a gorgeous crime thriller riffing on GTA, this time set in Hong Kong, which released to boatloads of praise but not a lot of sales, kneecapping any chance it had for a sequel. Shang-Chi and Kim's Convenience actor Simu Liu has publicly been trying to get a Sleeping Dogs movie adaptation off the ground in recent years, though.

While answering online questions to promote his upcoming show The Copenhagen Test with Melissa Barrera, Simu Liu revealed that Timo Tjahjanto would be sitting in the Sleeping Dogs director's seat.

Tjahjanto is currently best known for action flicks, including the recent Bob Odenkirk-led sequel Nobody 2, which has a certified fresh critics and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. He also directed 2018's The Night Comes For Us, a film full of the tightly-choreographed, mixed martial arts fights you'd expect to see in a live action Sleeping Dogs.

"I'm excited to be developing SLEEPING DOGS with Simu Liu," the director recently tweeted. "We both are hungry and passionate about the material & have plenty to prove. It's no secret that both TNCFU & The Shadow Strays took inspiration from Sleeping Dogs, heck I even based a character in TSS straight outta SD down to his name. This will take time, but we'll make the best version out of it, cleaver, chopsticks n all."

The video game adaptation now has a director secured, a finished script, and a notable actor attached to star and produce. A Hollywood studio is yet to pick up the project, but Simu Liu sounds like he's fighting tooth and nail to get the film made anyway.

While we wait, here's how to watch the MCU movies in order.

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