Kane & Lynch headed to Hollywood

"Cinematic." That's the word that came to many gamers' minds when they watched the trailer for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. The 43-second preview's visual style is positively Michael Mann-ish, with a Collateral-esque nightclub shootout and a Heat-like crew of overall-clad armed robbers.

Given Kane & Lynch's penchant for cinematic homage, it comes as little surprise, then, to learn that it is being turned into a feature film. This week, Variety reported that Vancouver-based studio Lionsgate has scooped up the movie rights to the squad-based action title, which is being developed by Io Interactive (Freedom Fighters). The PC and Xbox 360 game is currently due sometime later this year--GameSpot's previous coverage has more details.

According to the trade, Adrian Askarieh and Daniel Alter will produce the Kane & Lynch film. If those names sound familiar, it's because they are also reportedly producing the stalled movie based on another Io/Eidos franchise, Hitman. Askarieh is also producing Universal's Spy Hunter film, starring the Rock, which is stuck in development limbo as well.