Just a few months after actor Chris Pratt was confirmed to star in Universal Pictures' Cowboy Ninja Viking, the studio is in early talks with John Wick directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski to take the helm. Variety's sources reveal that Chris Pratt personally met with the filmmakers, giving them his approval before an offer went out from the studio.

The plot is based on the graphic novel of the same name by A.J. Lieberman and artist Riley Rossmo, which centers on a man with multiple-personality disorder. He is put into a secretive government program to become a super-soldier who possesses the skills of a cowboy, ninja and a Viking. Universal has been putting Cowboy Ninja Viking on the fast track to get production started before Chris Pratt's growing schedule. Still, it isn't completely clear when production will start, since the actor is scheduled to shoot The Magnificent Seven remake this spring and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is looming in the distance.

Craig Mazin wrote the screenplay, with Mark Gordon, Guymon Casady and Ben Forkner producing for Film 360 and the Mark Gordon Company. Both David Leitch and Chad Stahelski served as second unit directors for several years, working on projects such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Escape Plan before making their directorial debuts with John Wick, although David Leitch was uncredited in the film.