Bandai Namco and FromSoftware’s runaway smash hit Elden Ring is getting a movie adaptation, and a celebrated sci-fi director and writer is attached to the project already.
According to Deadline, the Elden Ring movie will be produced by indie studio A24, which is also responsible for the upcoming Death Stranding movie adaptation, although adapting Elden Ring is arguably going to be significantly more of a challenge than Kojima’s already-fairly-cinematic game.
Helming the project is Alex Garland, the creative force behind movies like Annihilation, Ex Machina, and his most recent movie Warfare, an on-the-ground depiction of the Iraq war. He’s also on writing duties.
Elden Ring co-writer George R.R. Martin will serve as a producer on the movie, but Deadline makes no mention of either FromSoftware or Hidetaka Miyazaki, which could suggest they’re not involved in the project.
Naturally, movies are a very different business to games, but it’s still a little troubling that Elden Ring‘s chief creative force doesn’t appear to be a part of the movie. I suppose he’s busy with next year’s Switch 2 exclusive The Duskbloods.
I can only speak for myself here, but an Elden Ring movie seems like a pretty bad idea right from the outset. FromSoftware’s open-world masterpiece is, after all, a game that tells its story in a fragmented, non-linear fashion, and it’s hard to see how that’s going to work in a two-hour ultra-linear movie.
Garland isn’t necessarily the worst choice to helm Elden Ring; he’s got form when it comes to intelligent fantasy and sci-fi, after all. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that Elden Ring is unfilmable, and that A24 and Garland have made rods for their own backs here.
We’re likely a couple of years away from the Elden Ring movie at the very least, but for now, if you want more Elden Ring shenanigans, you can content yourself with upcoming multiplayer spinoff Elden Ring Nightreign, which is due to arrive next week.