UPDATE (5-14-2015): Just after getting us excited for the film’s cast, Insomniac has announced via the PlayStation blog that both the film and game have been delayed until spring 2016. The Ratchet & Clank film, distributed by Focus Features, will be released in US theaters nationwide on April 29, 2015. The accompanying game for PlayStation 4, which reboots the 2002 original, will also be released around that time in spring 2016, though no specific date has been given yet.
The new post also gave more details about the film’s talented voice cast, clarifying whom they will be playing. Paul Giamatti will play the villainous Chairman Drek, while Sylvester Stallone will play his lieutenant, Victor Von Ion. John Goodman will be Ratchet’s mechanic mentor, Grimroth. The young and rising Bella Thorne (My Own Worst Enemy, Big Love) will play Galactic Ranger Cora, with some help from Rosario Dawson as Galactic Ranger support team member Elaris.
ORIGINAL STORY: Sony has announced a star-studded cast for its upcoming animated film version of Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank games, including none other than the Italian Stallion, Sylvester Stallone, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Sly” Stallone is best known as a Hollywood leading action hero in the 70s and 80s in franchises like Rocky and Rambo, and more recently capitalizing on that success with the Expendables films. Sony and Insomniac did not reveal which character Stallone will be playing in Ratchet & Clank. He is joined in the cast by Paul Giamatti (Sideways, 12 Years a Slave), John Goodman (Argo, Alpha House), and Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Netflix’s Daredevil). Arnold Taylor and David Kaye will reprise their voice roles as the titular Ratchet and Clank from the video games and Armin Shimerman (Quark from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Andrew Ryan in BioShock) will play the nefarious villain…Nefarious.
The film will roughly follow the plot of the original game, released in 2002 for PlayStation 2, in which an anthropomorphic, cat-like “Lombax” mechanic named Ratchet teams up with a robot named Clank to stop the evil Chairman Drek from destroying planets all around the galaxy in order to replace the polluted world of his own species, the Blarg. Since that original game there have been over a dozen sequels and spin-offs for various platforms, giving the filmmakers a lot to draw from for the adaptation. Insomniac Games has collaborated closely with Sony to ensure that its franchise is effectively translated to the big screen.
“Everyone at Insomniac is thrilled that Ratchet & Clank will be shared in cinemas around the world with new and long-time fans alike,” explained Insomniac CEO Ted Price. “It’s been particularly exciting to collaborate closely [and] to ensure an authentic Ratchet & Clank intergalactic adventure.”
Insomniac is also working on a remake of the first game to launch alongside the film this summer for PlayStation 4.
