Arise now, ye Tarnished, for the call of an Elden Ring film adaptation speaks to us all! FromSoftware’s global hit open-world dark fantasy RPG is officially heading to the big screen, as the rumors of A24’s involvement have been confirmed. The much-lauded indie studio is developing the project with one of their regular partners of late, Warfare and Civil War director Alex Garland, confirmed to write and direct the feature. Given the magnitude of the title, it’s poised to be one of the most expensive and daunting projects A24 has taken on to date. Publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment jointly announced the feature with the production company on Thursday.
Garland‘s Elden Ring will be produced by Game of Thrones mastermind George R.R. Martin, who famously contributed elements to the game’s story and worldbuilding. The news hardly comes as a surprise, considering the widespread interest in adapting the game to the big screen, including from Martin himself, who will presumably have a big hand in shaping the plot. Joining him on the production will be Peter Rice, Andrew Macdonald, and Allon Reich from DNA, and Vince Gerardis. The game itself was helmed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, who has become one of the most decorated creatives in gaming in recent years after spearheading FromSoft‘s critically acclaimed Dark Souls series of RPGs, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, among other projects.
Released in 2022, Elden Ring has been lauded as one of the greatest games ever made, earning Game of the Year and selling over 30 million copies since its debut. Its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, was similarly acclaimed, launching last year to even more widespread praise and yet another Game of the Year nomination. The game takes place in the Lands Between, a brutal, dark fantasy world influenced by outer gods and torn apart by The Shattering, a war between the various demigods aiming to seize power using pieces of the titular Elden Ring. In the middle of this stalemate, players take on the role of the Tarnished, beings who challenge the very gods themselves to seize the throne of Elden Lord for themselves and establish a new order. They travel to the ends of the earth, from the fields of Limgrave to the rot-infested lands of Caelid and beyond, encountering curious characters along the way in their journey to either aid the Greater Will or subvert it entirely.
Garland May Be A24’s Best Choice to Stand Before the ‘Elden Ring’
FromSoftware‘s games have never been particularly straightforward in how their stories are told, which will make Elden Ring a unique challenge for Garland. However, he’s likely the best fit in A24‘s typical roster of collaborators to take on The Lands Between. Before directing the realistic war feature, Warfare, he helmed the most expensive project from the production company at the time in Civil War, a bet that paid off when it became one of A24‘s highest-grossing films. Garland‘s resume also includes another critical darling in Ex-Machina, and he’s also known for penning the script to Danny Boyle‘s genre-defining zombie flick 28 Days Later and its upcoming sequel, 28 Years Later.
Last year, Miyazaki shared that FromSoftware was open to letting Hollywood in on some of its games, albeit with some caveats. “I don’t see any reason to deny another interpretation or adaptation of Elden Ring, a movie, for example,” he said at the time. “But I don’t think myself, or FromSoftware, have the knowledge or ability to produce something in a different medium. So that’s where a very strong partner would come into play.” Although there was real interest, he also wanted to be cautious with whoever partnered with the developer. Now, Elden Ring will be yet another big-name game adaptation from a big-name auteur in A24‘s lineup, after it also picked up an adaptation of Hideo Kojima‘s Death Stranding helmed by A Quiet Place: Day One‘s Michael Sarnoski.
Stay tuned here at Collider for more on the Elden Ring movie as development gets underway. In the meantime, the multiplayer spin-off title, Elden Ring Nightreign, is set to release on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC next Friday, May 30.
via Collider