If you are a fan of Chris Pratt or Thor: Ragnarok, the upcoming movie project Cowboy Ninja Viking may be a good fit for you. The flick, based on a set of popular Image Comics, has been in development since way back in 2010, but in recent months the movie has started gaining traction again. Recently, we learned that Michelle MacLaren has been hired to direct Cowboy Ninja Viking, and now it looks like Thor: Ragnarok writer Eric Pearson will be joining the creative team. He's signed on to rewrite the project, which hopefully means we'll get a movie this time around.
To understand why Eric Pearson will be rewriting and not simply writing Cowboy Viking Ninja, you need to know some history. Originally, Paul Wernick and Everett David Reese were signed on to write the originally version of the movie, but then Disney dropped the project. It was picked up by Universal and Marc Forster signed on to direct, with Craig Mazin working on that draft of the script. At another point there were rumors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski would take over, but that didn't happen. Cut to present day, and Universal Pictures is still involved with the project, just with Eric Pearson and Michelle MacLaren.
One stable thing about this movie has been Chris Pratt. The actor has been signed on for Cowboy Ninja Viking since 2014 and he's stuck through various changes in terms of its development. Although he hasn't been around since 2010 when the project first got off the ground, the fact that he's stayed signed on for four years and through numerous changes is a good sign.
The Cowboy Ninja Viking comics follow a counter-intelligence group who creates entities called Triplets. Those Triplets have multiple personalities, and in the case of Chris Pratt's character, Duncan, he can be a cowboy, a ninja and a viking depending on the moment. With a rewrite in the works, it's hard to tell exactly where the plot will go at this point, but we'll keep you updated as the movie continues moving forward at Universal. The movie is expected to be released on Friday, June 28, 2019, although movie release dates can sometimes be fickle as a project comes together.
In the meantime, you can catch Chris Pratt coming up in his next Marvel installment when Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4. In addition, he also has Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom this year, which hits theaters on June 22, 2018. To find out what we know so far about that latter movie, take a look at our full guide. Interestingly, per Deadline, Eric Pearson is still involved with a lot of Marvel projects, including pre or post-production writing on the aforementioned Infinity War, as well as other projects like Pacific Rim 2, although Thor: Ragnarok is still his most notable writing credit to date.
