Death Stranding’s director, Hideo Kojima, shared his ambitious goals for the upcoming cinema adaptation of the game.
Death Stranding’s director, Hideo Kojima, shared his ambitious goals for the upcoming cinema adaptation of the game. Kojima wants the film to be not just a run-of-the-mill adaptation but a reference point for future video game movies.
According to Kojima, Death Stranding Should Be an Award-Worthy Movie
In his interview with Variety, Kojima underlined that there is a cinematic approach in his work, but that he is a game creator at heart. He then explained how he wants Death Stranding to stand out among upcoming video game movies.
“I aim to introduce a new dimension of cinematic adaptation that goes beyond simply turning the game into a live-action movie,” Kojima said. This is an ambitious goal, but not impossible. Although Kojima will not direct the film, he will serve in a consultant role with art film distributor A24.
Kojima gave more detailed information about this subject in the HideoTube web series in February. He stated that adapting a series like The Last of Us is relatively easy, but fitting a 50-60 hour game like Death Stranding into a three-hour movie is a real challenge.
“The worldview of the game will of course not change. However, the current story of the game cannot fit into just two hours. We are still exploring how to approach this,” Kojima explained. “Video game adaptations have always failed in the past, you know. But in the last four or five years, people who understand games have taken on the task of adapting them into movies or TV series, and there have been a few hits like The Super Mario Bros. Movie. With A24, it’s based on the game but also independent.” And I want to do something artistic, something that can win awards at film festivals like Cannes, Venice or Sundance.”
The game’s sequel, Death Stranding: On The Beach, is planned to be released sometime in 2025. When Kojima’s vision comes together and A24’s independent and artistic approach, it seems that Death Stranding can truly play a leading role among game adaptations.