A24 has announced that they are partnering up with Kojima Productions to develop a Death Stranding movie. A24 shared in a statement: ”It’s official: we’ve partnered with Kojima Productions on the live-action feature film adaptation of Hideo Kojima’s acclaimed video game, Death Stranding.”
Hideo Kojima, the original game’s director and writer, previously revealed that he is “deeply involved” with the game, but he is not directing it. He explained: “Just to be clear, I am deeply involved in producing, supervising, plotting, look, design and content of the film adaptation of DS, just not in charge of directing.”
Kojima recently offered up some additional insight on the film on the developer’s website saying this won’t be a direct translation of the game: “There are a lot of ‘game adaptation films’ out there but what we are creating is not just a direct translation of the game. The intention is that our audience will not only be fans of the games, but our film will be for anyone who loves cinema.”
He added that they are expanding the Death Stranding world: “We are creating a Death Stranding universe that has never been seen before, achievable only through the medium of film, it will be born.” Kojima also added that he believes A24’s “innovative approach” to storytelling matches what Kojima Productions has been doing for the last eight years.
Kojima previously offered some insight on how the film project initially came together and his vision for it, saying that he’s not setting out to make a blockbuster-sized movie. He explained:
“I was on video calls with lots of people in Hollywood every week beginning last year, and not just for Death Stranding. I received a lot of offers, but my intention from the start was never to make a blockbuster film. Alex Lebovici from Hammerstone Studios shared my vision with regards to that. There were a lot of pitches to make a large-scale movie with famous actors and flashy explosions, but what good would explosions be in Death Stranding? Making money isn’t something I’m focused on at all, either. I’m aiming for a more arthouse approach, and the only person who offered to make a film like that was Alex Lebovici, which makes me think he’s a rather unusual type.”
He also talked about the failures of other video game movies and how this Death Stranding adaptation will take a “direction that nobody has ever tried before” with a video game movie.
“The failure of film adaptations of games from a while back has led to a lot of movies that cater to gamers, right? That’s why they have the same kind of look as a game. I don’t want the Death Stranding movie to be like that. Rather, I’m taking the approach of changing and evolving the world of Death Stranding in a way that suits film well. I made Death Stranding to be a game, and games are games. There’s no real need to turn them into films. So in a way, the Death Stranding movie is taking a direction that nobody has tried before with a movie adaptation of a game. I think that what I need to make is something that will inspire some of the people who watch it to become creators 10 or 20 years down the line.”
The original game “challenges players to reconnect a fractured society after the cataclysmic ‘Death Stranding’ event. This has opened a doorway between the living and the dead, leading to creatures from the afterlife roaming the fallen world marred by a desolate society. Carrying the disconnected remnants of humanity’s future in his hands, players embody Sam Bridges as he embarks on a mission to deliver hope to humanity by connecting the last survivors of a decimated America.”
The game stars Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Guillermo del Toro, and Margaret Qualley.
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