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'Sleeping Dogs' movie will star Donnie Yen

We'll see if Donnie Yen can make a video game movie good.

Jason LaVeris via Getty Images

You can make a list of good video game movies on the back of a thumbtack, but that doesn't stop Hollywood from producing them. The latest title to be fed into the sausage machine is Square Enix's popular 2012 title Sleeping Dogs. Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Donnie Yen, star of Ip Man and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has been signed to play the lead.

Sleeping Dogs is an open-world adventure game set in Hong Kong, with the player controlling an undercover cop, Wei Shen. Shen is tasked with taking down the local Triads, with a combination of fighting, shooting and parkour. It's not clear if Yen will play Shen, or another character, depending on how loose the adaptation is.

Yen's inclusion doesn't guarantee that the film will be any good, but may ensure that it makes back its budget. The star is well-loved in China, and will ensure that audiences there turn out in droves to see him. In the same way that Warcraft was a hit in the country, a video game movie starring Donnie Yen seems like a slam dunk. That should give the producers more time to ensure that the film is any good.