Hideo Kojima is a man of many complex narratives, a legend in the gaming industry and, most importantly, dipping his toes into movie making. His newest endeavour: the Death Stranding film he's working on. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming project!
Death Stranding, aka the walking simulator 2019 with mysteries and a classic Hideo Kojima narrative, will be the first Kojima project to get an adaptation to the big screen. How that's going to work out remains to be seen: some of the unique gameplay mechanics obviously won't make it into the movie (strangely being alone in the massive world and still feeling like part of a community, for example) and cramping a Kojima story into a two-hour movie could prove to be difficult.
In Death Stranding, players get to see a post-apocalyptic world through the eyes of Sam (Norman Reedus), a courier who's life is basically one fetch quest after the other. Sam gradually discovers the hidden agendas by various characters he meets throughout the game and learns the truth behind the Death Stranding phenomenon that destroyed society as we know it.
Kojima Teams Up With A24 For Death Stranding Movie
The project is officially underway and seems to be in good hands: A24 will take the lead. A24 is the studio behind movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once, Midsommar and Hereditary – they have proven to know how to make compelling movies, alright. Seems to be the right choice for adapting Kojima's notoriously strange and complex stories.
Hideo Kojima himself won't be directing the movie as he's deep into Death Stranding 2 right now, but he'll still be deeply involved in making the film.
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.
— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) June 18, 2023
Speaking with IGN, Kojima has also shared that he doesn't intend to make a blockbuster, which seems to be a smart choice for a Death Stranding adaptation – it's not exactly the most action-packed game out there with explosions left and right at any given moment. The game's charm comes a lot from the unique open world, so sticking to those roots should help to bring the DS-vibes to the big screen as well.
There are some other major changes, though, as Kojima has his own stance on game adaptations – we'll get to that in a second.
Will Norman Reedus Star In The Death Stranding Movie?
The number one question: is Norman Reedus reprising his role as Sam in the live-action movie as well? As details on the project are being kept under wraps for the most part, it's hard to tell. But it's already been announced that the movie will take a different approach than the game and tell a new story within the Death Stranding universe, so chances are pretty slim that Reedus will make an appearance.
If he does, it's most likely going to be a cameo at best, if fans are lucky. Same as Kojima, Reedus is currently knee-deep involved in Death Stranding 2. Maybe keep your hopes in check and expect a movie without Sam.
Instead, Kojima aims to tell a whole new story, explaining:
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.
Kind of funny, coming from Kojima of all people: most of his games feel like a movie at times with some breaks where you get to play (talking about you, MGS 3.) While he hasn't ruled out Reedus making an appearance as Sam, it does sound a lot like we'll get to meet a whole new ensemble of characters with their very own challenges in the post-apocalyptic world.
Is There A Release Date For The Death Stranding Movie?
The whole project is still in development and lots of questions remain unanswered for the time being, including the release date. At this point, it's anyone's guess when the movie will come out, but according to Deadline, it's on the fast track.
For the time being, both Kojima and A24 remain tight-lipped about the whole thing. The second that changes, you can be sure we'll update you on the matter!