Hideo Kojima’s genre-defying video game Death Stranding is being made into a movie. The acclaimed games director is teaming up with executive producer Alex Lebovici’s Hammerstone Studios – best known for the recent film Barbarian – to develop an adaptation of said title. Marking Kojima Productions’ feature debut, it will introduce “new elements and characters” to the Death Stranding universe. Currently, there are no details on any writers, directors or stars attached to the film, although the report mentions that it is “in the fast lane, with ongoing development.” And the Death Stranding movie could also get a sequel, given that Death Stranding 2 – for PS5 – is currently in the works at Kojima Productions.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this new partnership with Hammerstone Studios,” Kojima told Deadline. “This is a pivotal moment for the franchise and I’m really looking forward to working with them to bring Death Stranding to the big screen.” While plot details for this new entry are still under wraps, the original 2019 game followed Sam Porter Bridges (Norman Reedus), a courier tasked with reconnecting the last survivors of a post-apocalyptic America. There’s a lot to unpack here, starting with an open doorway that connects to the land of the dead, from where hostile visitors frequent the world of the living. Then there’s a baby in a bottle – or BB – that helps detect said tar-covered BTs (enemies), so you can sneak around them, while a mysterious beach is flooded with dead aquatic animals. . Much of the gameplay centers around walking and delivering items, with long cutscenes serving as stopping points and providing context to the universe.
Death Stranding also featured a stunning cast team, which offered both voice acting and motion capture. Besides Reedus, the cast included Léa Seydoux as Fragile, Mads Mikkelsen as Clifford Unger, Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro as Deadman, Nicolas Winding Refn as Heartman, Margaret Qualley as Mama/Lockne, Troy Baker as Higgs, and Tommie Earl Jenkins as Dying Hardman . If the movie is going to incorporate some characters from the game, hopefully some name changes and dialogue will be tweaked, so they don’t sound too campy to mainstream audiences – Die Hardman, for example. Also, the infamous phrase: “I’m fragile, but not that fragile.”
“We are thrilled and honored to have the opportunity to partner with the brilliant and iconic Hideo Kojima for his first film adaptation,” added Lebovici. “Unlike other big-budget video game adaptations, this will be something much more intimate and grounded. Our goal is to redefine what a video game adaptation could be when you have creative and artistic freedom. This film will be an authentic “Hideo Kojima” production, it’s funny that he says that since the creator of the Metal Gear series is known to have stamped his name on all of his projects.
Meanwhile, Kojima Productions is celebrating its seventh anniversary, for which its leader has released a video message, promising a whole new game in addition to Death Stranding 2, and some “visual projects”. The former could possibly refer to his collaboration with Xbox, while the latter could be the aforementioned movie. “I hope to bring you more information on all of this next year,” he said.
The director announced Death Stranding 2 last week, as part of The Game Awards 2022, with a trailer that he says is full of clues for fans to discover. From the brief footage, we can confirm that Fragile (Seydoux) has healed from the torture of time, Bridges (Reedus) has aged and there’s a new villain on guitar, presumably played by Baker, who also sang the BB’s theme in the trailer. In an on-stage interview right after, Kojima confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic caused him to rewrite the entire script for the sequel. Death Stranding 2 also adds Elle Fanning (The Great) and Shioli Kutsuna (Deadpool 2) to the cast.
Currently, there is no release window for the Death Stranding movie.
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