CD Projekt Red Partners With Paramount to Bring Night City to the Big Screen
The world of Cyberpunk 2077 is heading to live-action cinema. Paramount Pictures is developing a film set in CD Projekt Red’s dystopian science-fiction universe, with the Polish developer co-producing the project alongside producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, known for his work on the Transformers films.
The project was reported by Deadline, marking another step in the expansion of the Cyberpunk franchise beyond video games.
CD Projekt Red has confirmed its enthusiasm for the partnership, although key production details remain undisclosed. Michał Nowakowski, co-CEO of CD Projekt, said the company was excited to work with Paramount as a partner that shares its creative ambitions for the franchise.
“We’re excited about Paramount as a future partner who shares our creative ambitions for the Cyberpunk franchise,” Nowakowski said in a public statement on X. “We look forward to sharing more details at the appropriate time.”
No cast, director, release date or plot details have been announced in the supplied information. For now, the confirmed development is the film itself and the involvement of Paramount, CD Projekt Red and di Bonaventura.
A New Chapter for the Cyberpunk Universe
The announcement gives CD Projekt Red another opportunity to develop the Cyberpunk universe through a different medium. The original Cyberpunk 2077 introduced players to Night City, a technologically advanced metropolis shaped by corporate power, cybernetic enhancement and extreme social inequality.
The game’s setting offers a foundation for stories that extend beyond the player’s experience in the original title. However, the film’s narrative direction has not yet been revealed, so it remains unclear whether the adaptation will follow familiar characters, introduce a new protagonist or explore a different part of Night City.
CD Projekt Red’s involvement as co-producer is an important part of the announcement. The studio will be involved in the project alongside Paramount, but the precise division of creative responsibilities has not been made public.
For a franchise whose identity depends heavily on its setting, tone and visual style, translating Night City into live action will involve decisions about how to preserve its distinctive atmosphere while building a story suited to cinema.
Those questions will become easier to assess once the production team shares more information.
From Cyberpunk: Edgerunners to Live-Action Cinema
The film follows CD Projekt Red’s previous expansion of the franchise into animation through Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the Netflix anime produced with Japanese animation studio Trigger.
Released in 2022, Edgerunners told a standalone story set in the same universe, following characters whose lives were shaped by Night City’s violence, technology and social pressures. Its approach demonstrated how the setting could support a narrative separate from the main game’s central storyline.
A second season has also been announced, with the supplied announcement pointing to a premiere later in October 2026. Further details are available through the official trailer.
The live-action project represents a different creative challenge. Animation allows for highly stylised action and visual exaggeration, while a live-action production must establish how the franchise’s cybernetic technology, futuristic architecture and combat fit into a convincing physical world.
The new film does not replace the games or the animated series. Instead, it adds another potential entry point for audiences who may encounter Cyberpunk through cinema rather than interactive entertainment.
CD Projekt Red Is Expanding Its Entertainment Portfolio
The film announcement comes as CD Projekt Red continues to invest heavily in its next major game project. The company has been prioritising The Witcher 4, expanding its development team to 513 developers over the summer as the project entered a more intensive phase of production, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
At the same time, work has begun on a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 at CD Projekt’s Boston studio, extending the franchise’s future beyond the original game. The company’s expanding portfolio means that its entertainment adaptations are developing alongside a broader pipeline of interactive projects.
The distinction matters because the live-action film is not a replacement for the next game. It is a separate development that could help introduce the setting to new audiences while the studio continues building its gaming portfolio.
However, no direct commercial relationship between the film’s release and the next Cyberpunk game has been announced. Any impact on future game sales, player numbers or development priorities remains uncertain.
Video Game Adaptations Can Renew Interest in Established Franchises
The Cyberpunk 2077 film is entering an entertainment market in which adaptations can help bring existing game franchises back into public conversation.
Recent examples illustrate the potential. According to GamesIndustry.biz’s report on the impact of Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil film, analysts reported a 50% increase in engagement with Resident Evil games around the film’s release.
The Fallout television adaptation has also demonstrated the relationship between screen entertainment and games. Its second season became one of Amazon Prime Video’s most-watched series, while Fallout 4 more than doubled its concurrent player count on Steam following the season premiere.
These examples suggest that adaptations can create renewed interest in a franchise’s existing catalogue, although results vary by property, audience and release.
For CD Projekt Red, a live-action Cyberpunk film offers a similar opportunity to broaden awareness of Night City. Whether that translates into greater engagement with Cyberpunk 2077 or its future sequel will depend on the film’s execution, timing and audience reception.
The wider significance is not simply whether the movie succeeds at the box office. A well-received adaptation could give the franchise a longer presence in popular culture between major game releases.
Paramount Is Building a Broader Video Game Adaptation Slate
The Cyberpunk project also joins a growing portfolio of video game adaptations at Paramount. The studio is working on a Street Fighter film in partnership with Legendary, while a movie based on the Call of Duty franchise is also in development, with Peter Berg attached as director.
For Paramount, these projects provide access to established audiences and recognisable intellectual property. For game publishers, a studio partnership offers a route to film distribution and a different form of storytelling.
That does not make success automatic. Each property has its own audience expectations, tone and storytelling requirements. The challenge is to create a film that works for people unfamiliar with the games while giving existing fans a meaningful reason to watch.
The involvement of CD Projekt Red and Lorenzo di Bonaventura establishes the initial production partnership for Cyberpunk, but the announcement does not yet reveal how the film will approach the source material or how closely it will connect with the events of the games.
Those creative decisions will ultimately determine how the project fits into Paramount’s wider adaptation strategy.
The Announcement Comes Amid Paramount's Major Corporate Expansion
The film news also arrives during a significant period of corporate change for Paramount. Earlier this week, Paramount completed its reported $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, with the companies operating under the Skydance name following the transaction, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
As part of the broader restructuring, Paramount Games Studio and WB Games have also been brought together under Skydance, as detailed in GamesIndustry.biz’s report on the games division merger.
Skydance president Andy Gordon has described games, experiences, consumer products and publishing as core pillars of the company’s strategy to build engagement with audiences across physical and digital environments.
That broader ambition provides context for the Cyberpunk announcement, although there has been no confirmation that the film is directly tied to the newly combined games division or that its development arrangements will change as a result of the acquisition.
The common thread is the growing importance of established entertainment properties across different media. Films, games, merchandise and other experiences can serve different audiences while drawing on the same recognisable fictional worlds.
Cyberpunk's Live-Action Future Remains Open
Paramount’s live-action Cyberpunk 2077 film is still at an early stage, with the creative team, cast, plot and release window yet to be disclosed in the supplied announcement.
What is confirmed is that CD Projekt Red will co-produce the project with Paramount Pictures and Lorenzo di Bonaventura. The partnership adds live-action cinema to a franchise that has already expanded through animation and continues to grow as a video game property.
The adaptation’s central challenge will be translating Night City’s distinctive atmosphere and themes into a standalone film without relying on the audience’s familiarity with the game. Its opportunity lies in making that world accessible to viewers who have never picked up a controller, while offering existing fans a new way to experience it.
For now, the project is a development announcement rather than a finished vision of the film. More details from CD Projekt Red and Paramount will be needed before its creative direction or potential impact can be assessed.
