David Harbour Eyed for Kane & Lynch Film in Unearthed Concept

A big-screen adaptation of the original Kane & Lynch game, developed by the renowned Hitman studio IO Interactive and released in 2007, was in development for years. Over time, numerous Hollywood stars were linked to the project, sparking interest and anticipation among fans.

This week, Nobody 2 director Timo Tjahjanto shared on social media that he had crafted a treatment for the Kane & Lynch film, envisioning David Harbour—best known for portraying Jim Hopper in Stranger Things and as Red Guardian/Florence Pugh's dad in Thunderbolts/New Avengers—in a starring role.

"Never seen a script, but a couple of years ago when that property was still kinda hot. I wrote a short treatment with James Badge Dale and David Harbour in mind," Tjahjanto wrote. "Never gotten anywhere."

The Kane & Lynch movie feels dead in the water. Photo by Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images.

Tjahjanto can find some comfort in knowing that his treatment—one of many proposed ideas for the Kane & Lynch film—never came to fruition. A treatment is a detailed outline used by film studios to develop a script.

For several years, high-profile actors Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx were attached to the project, but both eventually withdrew as the script underwent numerous rewrites.

Later, another iteration of the project was rumored to feature Gerard Butler and Vin Diesel in the lead roles, though this version also failed to materialize.

Following the release of the less-than-stellar sequel, Kane & Lynch: Dog Days in 2010, IO Interactive shifted their focus entirely to their acclaimed Hitman franchise, leaving the Kane & Lynch series behind.