John Cena could star in the forthcoming Duke Nukem film

Aliens should steer clear of Cena

John Cena. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

​John Cena is in talks to star in Duke Nukem - a film adaptation of the video game franchise following the adventures of the titular action hero.

According to THR, the project has been picked up by production company Platinum Dunes, which is run by Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller.

While there is no director tied to the Duke Nukem film right now, the production company will soon start looking for a writer to craft a script for Cena.

In the video game series, which debuted in 1991, Nukem is a politically incorrect, beefy protagonist who fights off aliens to save the world.

The idea of Duke Nukem getting the big-screen treatment isn't sitting well with everyone, however.

The voice behind Nukem since 1995, Jon St. John spoke out about his concerns when it comes to turning the video game into a film.

“Don’t let Hollywood and Michael Bay kill my character!” St. John wrote via Facebook. “Video game movies that are not CG are generally not very good. An R rated CG would be the best way to maintain the king’s character. I’ve been Duke since 1995 and would like it to stay that way. Please share and tweet this with me. We won’t let this happen!”

Duke Nukem was originally set to be produced by Dimension Films, but Paramount took over after the company lost its movie rights.

Platinum Dunes seems like a good fit for Duke Nukem as the company has produced Purge and the Ninja Turtles franchise.

Cena has been attached to Paramount, appearing in the studio's features Daddy's Home 2, which earned over $100m in ticket sales.

The WWE star turned actor will be featured in Paramount's upcoming film Bumblebee - the Michael Bay-produced spin-off from Transformers.

It will be interesting to see how Cena takes on the muscular video game hero's role.