We’re finally getting a movie based on a Hideo Kojima game and it’s Death Stranding. No, you’re not imagining it, the game you’d least expect to become a film is getting adapted for the silver screen. And, the way things are going, it could beat Metal Gear Solid to the cinemas.
Hideo Kojima has been in the game industry for nearly 40 years so it’s not surprising that one of his movies is actually becoming a film, courtesy of A24 Films. What is shocking is that it’s Death Stranding, Kojima’s parcel delivering, ghost-dodging open-world game that’s getting made.
Officially, the Metal Gear Solid movie has already been announced but that was called back in 2006. Oscar Isaac is supposedly set to play Solid Snake, I’m not convinced it’ll see the light of day. Death Stranding on the other hand, is actually happening.
The existence of the movie was first teased back in December of last year. Hammerstone Studios, responsible for movies such as Barbarian and Bill & Ted Face the Music, was going to be handling it. However, this new announcement makes no mention of Hammerstone, so it’s possible that studio is no longer involved.
“A24, the studio behind Academy Award winning films such as Everything Everywhere All At Once has announced a collaboration with KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS to adapt Hideo Kojima’s acclaimed video game, DEATH STRANDING, into a live-action feature film,” reads the announcement.
A24 has been around since 2014 and aside from the superb Everything Everywhere All At Once, which the press release rightly brings up, they’ve released Room, Under the Skin, Hereditary, Midsommar and host of other greats.
One question remains – why? Kojima and his company have the rights to Death Stranding, unlike Metal Gear Solid which remains a Konami property. That may have had something to do with it.
But Death Stranding is not going to be an easy movie to adapt. Even if A24 enlists the help of Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen and Léa Seydoux, all of whom appeared in the game, where do you go with the plot? The game had hours and hours of convoluted story which I can’t imagine fitting into even a 3 hour movie.
The movie doesn’t have a release date as yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if it arrived around the time as Death Stranding 2. So, it could be quite some time till see Death Stranding up on the big screen. And if doesn’t have a scene where someone pees to make a mushroom grow, I’ll eat my official A24 Death Stranding T-Shirt.
Want a game that, like Death Stranding, sends you out into the wilderness? Check out the best survival games on PC. Or if you’re still trying to figure the original game out, here’s Death Stranding’s endings explained.
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