Kyle Gallner Signals Interest in Playing V in Paramount's Cyberpunk 2077 Movie

Kyle Gallner has made a public pitch to enter Night City. Following Paramount's announcement that it is developing a live-action movie based on Cyberpunk 2077, the Smile 2 actor shared a simple but unmistakable expression of interest in playing V, the customizable central character from CD Projekt Red's RPG.

Gallner posted a photograph of himself with a closely cropped haircut resembling the male version of V's familiar promotional look, accompanying it with the message, "Take me to night city." The post arrived within hours of the October 8 announcement regarding Paramount's plans for the franchise, immediately prompting fans to imagine what a screen version of the game's protagonist could look like.

There is no casting announcement at this stage, and neither Paramount nor CD Projekt Red has confirmed that V will be the film's lead. Gallner's post is best understood as an enthusiastic public audition rather than evidence of a deal. Still, it has given the early discussion around the project a clear focal point: whether the movie should adapt the story players already know or use the enormous setting of Night City to tell something entirely different.

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A role with built-in questions

V is an especially interesting character to bring from game to film because Cyberpunk 2077 lets players shape the protagonist in multiple ways. Players can select V's gender presentation, customize their appearance, and make decisions that influence relationships, missions, and the story's ultimate direction. The game's narrative nevertheless gives the character a strong core: a mercenary attempting to survive a dangerous personal crisis in a city ruled by corporate power, wealth, technology, and violence.

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That combination makes V recognizable while also leaving room for interpretation. A film would need to choose one version of the character and establish a fixed perspective for viewers. Gallner's image specifically evokes the male V seen in much of the game's marketing, but a movie could conceivably take a different route if it decides to center V at all.

The actor's potential fit has become a popular topic among fans in part because the role requires more than a conventional action lead. V has to feel capable in a fight and credible as a hardened mercenary, but the character also carries the vulnerability of someone being steadily pushed toward increasingly impossible decisions. Night City may be packed with chrome, gangs, fixers, and towering corporate offices, yet the game's most memorable beats often depend on intimate conversations and the pressure of limited time.

Gallner has not been announced as part of the production, and there is no indication that formal casting has begun. However, the online response to his post has been notably positive. Fans have highlighted the possibility of seeing him share the screen with Keanu Reeves, who played the digital-rocker-turned-unwanted-passenger Johnny Silverhand in the game.

Johnny Silverhand remains one of many unknowns

Reeves' Johnny is a major part of Cyberpunk 2077, serving as both a source of conflict and an essential companion in V's journey. His presence is one reason a direct adaptation of the game could be tempting: the V-and-Johnny dynamic provides a ready-made emotional and dramatic engine, while Night City supplies a visually rich backdrop for a large-scale science-fiction movie.

But the planned film has not revealed its story, characters, creative team, or release window. There is no confirmation that Reeves will return, that Johnny Silverhand will appear, or that the screenplay will revisit the game's specific storyline. The property contains decades of fictional history and a wide range of possible entry points, so the film is not restricted to adapting a single campaign.

A movie could follow V and Johnny's adventures, explore a period before the game, or introduce a fresh collection of mercenaries with no direct connection to the player character. It could also draw on figures associated with the game's expansion, including Idris Elba's Solomon Reed, though there is likewise no indication that Reed or Elba will be involved. The broader universe has proven able to support stories with different casts, timelines, and tones.

That flexibility is important because Cyberpunk has expanded well beyond the tabletop role-playing game that started it all. CD Projekt Red's game brought the setting to a far larger interactive audience, while its expansion added another major chapter within Night City. The franchise then found further critical success in animation through Studio Trigger's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which told a separate story in the same world.

Night City has room for more than one story

The success of Edgerunners demonstrated that a Cyberpunk adaptation does not need to retell V's plot to connect with audiences. The anime embraced the setting's bleakness, spectacle, and emotional stakes while following characters who were distinct from the game's protagonist. Its reception broadened interest in the universe and reinforced the idea that Night City can function as more than a backdrop for one particular storyline.

That precedent may be useful for Paramount's movie. Directly adapting Cyberpunk 2077 would bring immediate name recognition and access to some of the franchise's best-known characters. At the same time, it would require the filmmakers to condense a branching role-playing game into a single canonized version, potentially limiting the sense of player ownership many fans have over V.

An original narrative would avoid that challenge, though it would have to earn audience investment in new characters while standing beside a game and an anime that have already set high expectations. Either direction would need to preserve the franchise's central tensions: the human cost of extreme augmentation, the gap between the rich and everyone else, and the struggle to retain a sense of self in a system built to turn people into products.

For now, Gallner's post has brought attention to the more direct-adaptation possibility. His willingness to visibly campaign for the part also reflects how recognizable V has become despite the character's player-driven design. The haircut may be a small visual detail, but it communicates exactly which version of the role he would like to inhabit.

CD Projekt Red promises further details later

CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michal Nowakowski said the company is excited to work with Paramount, describing the studio as a future partner that shares its creative ambitions for the Cyberpunk franchise. He also indicated that additional information will be shared when the time is right.

That leaves a substantial number of questions unanswered. Fans are waiting to learn who will write and direct the movie, whether CD Projekt Red will have a hands-on creative role, how closely the project will connect to game continuity, and whether established performers from the games could return. Casting will naturally be among the most closely watched next steps, particularly now that Gallner has openly added his name to the conversation.

Until then, the next confirmed expansion of the franchise is Edgerunners 2, which is set to arrive on Netflix on October 20, 2026. Its upcoming release ensures that Night City will remain active on screen even as the live-action film is still taking shape behind the scenes.

Gallner may simply be one fan eager to join a high-profile adaptation, but his post has landed at an opportune moment. Paramount's film is still largely a blank slate, and that means every plausible idea--from casting choices to story possibilities--will receive attention. Whether the movie eventually follows V, Johnny Silverhand, Solomon Reed, or entirely new residents of Night City, Gallner has made his preferred destination very clear.