Cancelled Splinter Cell movie starring Tom Hardy was 'going to be hardcore and awesome,' says producer: 'That's one of the ones that got away, which is really sad'

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 23: Tom Hardy attends the UK Premiere of "Venom: The Last Dance" at the BFI IMAX Waterloo on October 23, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images)

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The Splinter Cell movie that was set to star Tom Hardy has been canned, according to one of the producers on the project, who told The Direct that the project has been dropped because they "just couldn't get it right."

First things first: Yes indeed, a live-action Splinter Cell was in the works, to some extent. Don't feel bad if you either didn't know or had completely forgotten about it. The film was announced in 2012 with Tom Hardy in the lead as Sam Fisher, and not much else—a deal with a studio hadn't even been struck at that point—and that was pretty much the end of it.

It's unfortunate that an "awesome" and "great" film project couldn't overcome basic hurdles to make it across the finish line, but such is the way in the movie biz, I suppose. It also seems to be the way for Splinter Cell, which remains deeply snakebit: A remake of the original announced in 2021 remains MIA and a planned Splinter Cell VR game was cancelled in 2022. Netflix is moving ahead with a Splinter Cell animated series, which might seem like a decent consolation prize in lieu of the film, but Michael Ironside isn't in it so it might as well not even be happening.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.