Tom Blyth Praises Watch Dogs Movie and Says It Tears Apart the Online World We Live In

The long delayed Watch Dogs movie may finally be closer to reaching audiences, and actor Tom Blyth is already speaking positively about Ubisoft’s big screen adaptation. The film was first announced back in 2013 alongside the original Watch Dogs game, but spent years in development hell before finally moving forward through a partnership between New Regency, Sony Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Ubisoft.

The project resurfaced more than 2 years ago with a clearer creative team and cast. Mathieu Turi, known for Meander and The Deep Dark, was selected to direct. Christie LeBlanc, known for Oxygène, and Victoria Bata, known for Pitch Perfect 3 and Fate: The Winx Saga, were attached as writers. The cast includes Tom Blyth from Billy the Kid and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Sophie Wilde from Talk to Me and Boy Swallows Universe, and Markella Kavenagh, best known as Nori Brandyfoot in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Filming wrapped more than a year ago, and fans have been waiting for a clearer update on the movie’s release plans. While Blyth did not reveal story details, he did offer some insight during an interview with Screen Rant, saying that the film adapts the central ideas of Watch Dogs into a story about the modern world.

“I think the way they wrote that script…even though I'm not particularly a gamer myself, I knew the games. They took it, and they made it about the world we live in today. I will say that I do think that the film really tears apart this world we live in today, which is this online setting, the dangers of everything being interconnected and online in the way that the games do. Yeah, that was a vague answer, but that's all I can say. Sorry, man.

by: Tom Blyth”

Blyth’s comments suggest that the Watch Dogs movie will lean heavily into the franchise’s core themes: surveillance, hacking, digital dependency, corporate power, privacy risks, and the dangers of living in a fully connected society. That makes sense for the adaptation. Watch Dogs has always been less about one specific protagonist and more about a technological fear that becomes more relevant every year.

The original Watch Dogs focused on a near future Chicago where almost every part of the city was connected through a centralized operating system. Later entries expanded the idea with San Francisco’s tech culture in Watch Dogs 2 and authoritarian surveillance in Watch Dogs: Legion. While the film will not directly adapt the games, it appears to be using the franchise’s broader concept as a foundation for an original story.

That may be the smartest direction. Direct game adaptations can struggle when they try to recreate a specific plot too literally. Watch Dogs may work better as a thematic adaptation, using the franchise’s hacking and surveillance identity to tell a new story about today’s digital world. With cyber threats, AI systems, data collection, facial recognition, smart devices, and social platforms becoming part of daily life, the material is more relevant now than when the first game was announced.

The film could also arrive at an interesting time for Ubisoft. The Watch Dogs game franchise has been quiet for years, and reports have suggested that Ubisoft currently sees it as inactive or possibly “dead” for the time being. If true, the movie may become the only new Watch Dogs story fans receive for a long while.

That puts extra pressure on the adaptation. The game series has a loyal fan base, but it has also had an uneven history. The first Watch Dogs launched with huge expectations and heavy scrutiny, Watch Dogs 2 earned stronger praise for its tone and characters, and Watch Dogs: Legion introduced ambitious playable NPC systems but received a more mixed response. A successful movie could remind audiences why the concept still has potential.

For now, the Watch Dogs movie remains without a confirmed release date, but Blyth’s comments suggest the team has not treated it as a simple action adaptation. If the film can combine thriller pacing with a sharp look at modern surveillance culture, it may have a real chance to stand apart from other video game movies.

The challenge will be making Watch Dogs feel relevant without becoming generic cyber thriller material. The franchise works best when it connects personal stakes with larger systems of control. If the movie can capture that tension, it may finally give Ubisoft’s long delayed adaptation a reason to exist beyond the brand name.

Will the Watch Dogs movie revive interest in Ubisoft’s franchise, or is the series better suited to games than film?