‘Death Stranding’ Movie in the Works from A24 and Hideo Kojima
Hopefully the next announcement will be the cast!
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Hideo Kojima is making big moves! One week after it was announced that the iconic video game designer has teamed with Jordan Peele and other as-yet-unannounced collaborators for a “new form of media” with the upcoming game titled OD, Kojima and film studio A24 announced that they are working together to adapt the Kojima Productions game Death Stranding into a live-action movie!
Death Stranding is a 2019 video game first released on PlayStation 4. Kojima won “Best Game Direction” at The Game Awards 2019 for Death Stranding, and the game was received with positive reviews nearly across the board. Like much of Kojima’s work, the story of Death Stranding is complex with various themes and philosophical layers intertwined with the plot. At its most accessible level, the game is about a courier, Sam Porter Bridges, who transports cargo and reconnects the remnants of society in a post-apocalyptic world. There is a LOT more to it than that involving life, death, and beyond, so take a look at the game’s launch trailer to get a taste of what Death Stranding has to offer:
As you can see from the trailer, Death Stranding has a star-studded cast. Norman Reedus stars as the playable character Sam, and he is joined by Léa Seydoux (Blue is the Warmest Color), Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal), Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Troy Baker (The Last of Us), and many more. Hopefully A24 can sign up as many of the game’s cast members as possible for the live-action adaptation.
Historically, movies based on video games haven’t always had the best reputation. That sentiment has changed over the years though (and frankly, they’ve always been fun). Now they aren’t so easily dismissed by critics and general audiences. And with a company like A24 backing a movie made with the direct involvement of Hideo Kojima, we could all be in for something truly special.
With some video game adaptations, your enjoyment of the movie will be directly related to whether or not you’re a fan of the game it’s based on. That can be a huge barrier for general audiences. But Kojima stated on X that the Death Stranding movie will be created not only for fans of the game, but also for people who love movies but may not know anything about the game. Death Stranding is for “anyone who loves cinema.” This is coming from Kojima, someone whose bio on X says that 70% of his body is made of movies. Kojima loves cinema, and it shows through his work.
A24 really is the perfect partner for Kojima Productions’ first movie. A24 is based on a philosophy of creator-driven films where taking creative risks has paid off in spectacular ways. It was recently reported that A24 would begin moving towards more commercial films with widespread appeal. Death Stranding sounds like a nice middle ground between a singular-vision and a mass-appeal IP since the game has a built-in audience, but general movie fans won’t necessarily recognize it.
In late 2022 Deadline reported that Death Stranding would be co-produced by Hammerstone Studios (Barbarian), and it appears they will remain on as a “co-financier and executive producer.” Also, in case you missed it last year, the sequel to the Death Stranding video game, currently titled DS2, was announced by Kojima at The Game Awards 2022.
Like OD and DS2, the Death Stranding movie has no release date or specific plot information to share yet. As excited as we are about all of these projects, we’ll let you know more as soon as we find out.
