Paul W.S. Anderson's 'Monster Hunter', Starring Milla Jovovich & Tony Jaa, Will Arrive In 2020

We haven't seen a Paul W.S. Anderson movie since he wrapped up his long-running Resident Evil franchise back in 2016, but the director's next film will hit theaters next year.

Sony Pictures has unveiled the specific release date for Anderson's Monster Hunter, a fantasy action film based on the popular Capcom video game series. The film will feature the first pairing of action stars Milla Jovovich and Tony Jaa on screen together. Add the date to your calendar and learn more about the Monster Hunter movie below.

Deadline reports that Sony has officially set a September 4, 2020 release date for Monster Hunter, planting its flag in the ground as the first movie to be slated for that weekend. Here's the plot description for those who have never played the games:

Behind our world, there is another — a world of dangerous and powerful monsters that rule their domain with deadly ferocity. When Lt. Artemis (Jovovich) and her loyal soldiers are transported from our world to the new world, the unflappable lieutenant receives the shock of her life. In her desperate battle for survival against enormous enemies with incredible powers and unstoppable, terrifying attacks, Artemis will team up with a mysterious man (Tony Jaa) who has found a way to fight back.

Sounds like...well, it sounds like a Paul W.S. Anderson movie! He's the guy behind movies like Mortal Kombat, Alien vs. Predator, and Pompeii, so it's easy to see why his films are often derided. But I'm always hesitant to pile on, because he's also directed some stuff I genuinely like: Soldier, the Kurt Russell film set in the Blade Runner universe; Event Horizon, a legitimately scary psychological horror thriller; and Death Race, a fun prequel/remake of 1975's Death Race 2000.

Tip "T.I." Harris, Meagan Good, Diego Boneta, Josh Helman, Jin Au-Yeung, and Ron Perlman co-star in the video game adaptation. That's a good cast, full of people who seem like they'll be able to bring the right amount of self-awareness to a project like this. And with Jovovich's character being the fish out of water in this scenario, it'll allow her to play a different type of action hero than Alice in the six (!) Resident Evil movies.

If you still aren't convinced, listen to what Anderson said about translating this property to the big screen:

"The Monster Hunter world includes these huge deserts that make the Gobi Desert look like a sandbox, and they have ships that sail through the sand. These full-on galleons, but rather than sailing on the ocean waves, they sail through waves of sand. You're fighting these giant creatures, some as big as a city block. They live underneath the Earth and when they burst out, it's like the best of Dune. You also have these flying dragons, giant spiders, the most wonderful creatures. That's what really attracted me. I felt there was a fresh, exciting world that we could expose and build a whole world around, like a Marvel or Star Wars universe."

Will Monster Hunter be the film to break the video game curse? We'll find out when it arrives on September 4, 2020.