The 2021 Hazelight Studios runaway hit It Takes Two isn’t done winning just yet. In an exclusive report, Variety has announced that the game studio is teaming up with dj2 Entertainment to adapt the title for film and television. The content production company is also working on live-action adaptations of Life is Strange, Disco Elysium, and Little Nightmares. In 2020, dj2’s Dimitri M. Johnson and Dan Jevons co-produced Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog.
Hazelight founder and creative director Josef Fares is particularly excited about the collaboration. “Creating the world and story in It Takes Two was so much fun for me and the team,” he said. “Since it has a strong narrative with many crazy characters and just as crazy co-op action moments, the potential is huge for a great adaption to film or television.”
It Takes Two follows Cody and May, a troubled married couple planning on getting a divorce. After telling their daughter Rose the traumatizing news, the girl takes two hand-made dolls made to look like her parents into the shed, attempting to fix their relationship by play-acting. Both parents suddenly find themselves trapped in the dolls’ bodies, and must mend their relationship in order to return to their true bodies and fix their relationship with their daughter. The title is particularly unique as it does not have a single-player mode, and must be played as a co-op game either in person or online.
“Just like the rest of the gaming world, we fell head-over-heels in love with Cody, May, Rose, Dr. Hakim and the imaginative fantasy universe Hazelight have created, and can’t wait to bring these characters -and this world- to life on the big and small screen,” dj2 CEO and founder Dmitri M. Johnson said.
While no studio or network is currently attached to the project, sources state that It Takes Two is at the center of a hectic bidding war. Pat Casey and John Miller, the writers behind Sonic the Hedgehog and its sequel, will be adapting the Hazelight Studios title for the big screen.
It Takes Two is available to play on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.