Live-Action Death Stranding Movie Coming From Hideo Kojima And A24
Acclaimed indie studio A24 and beloved game developer/weirdo Hideo Kojima are teaming up to bring a live-action adaptation of the 2019 video game "Death Stranding" to the big screen. The game starred Norman Reedus (via motion capture) as a courier who wanders the perilous landscapes of the post-apocalyptic United States, avoiding monsters with the help of a psychic bond that he shares with a premature baby called Lou, who is carried around in a portable synthetic womb.
The official synopsis from A24 and Kojima Productions (via Variety) doesn't mention the psychic jar baby, but instead simply says that:
"The film promises to delve into the mysteries surrounding the apocalyptic event called the 'Death Stranding,' which blurred the lines between life and death, and brought forth nightmarish creatures into a world on the brink of collapse."
The "Death Stranding" movie is only in the early development stage right now, with no writers, director, or cast members attached. When things do get to the casting stage, it will be interesting to see whether there are any returning faces. Besides Reedus, the game also featured characters played by Margaret Qualley, Mads Mikkelsen, and Léa Seydoux, along with appearances by filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn.
Death Stranding still needs to find a director
While the strange visuals of "Death Stranding" are definitely a good fit for A24, whose highest-grossing movie to date was the delightfully weird "Everything Everywhere All At Once," the adaptation will need the right director to bring it to life.
The obvious name that comes to mind is Guillermo del Toro, who co-directed the 2014 horror game "P.T." with Kojima. If you solved the puzzle at the heart of "P.T." it unlocked a teaser trailer for "Silent Hills": a new game in the "Silent Hill" franchise that would be a collaboration between Kojima and del Toro, and star Norman Reedus. Despite the extreme fan hype, game publisher Konami canceled "Silent Hills" and attempted to eradicate "P.T." from existence. It has survived only through emulators and PlayStation consoles that downloaded the game before it was deleted.
This was one of the biggest controversies in video game history, so there's a lot of fan appetite to see del Toro and Kojima team up again. But in a statement accompanying the announcement, Kojima noted that, "The intention is that our audience will not only be fans of the games, but our film will be for anyone who loves cinema." He also revealed that the film won't be a "direct translation" of the games: "We are creating a 'Death Stranding' universe that has never been seen before, achievable only through the medium of film, it will be born."
Given that del Toro's movie to-do list is already about eight miles high, A24 and Kojima Productions will probably need to find another director for "Death Stranding." Then again, the movie's development has only just started — perhaps by the time it's ready to be put to film, del Toro will have vanquished his to-do list.