The devil works hard, but Alex Garland works harder. The Ex Machina and Civil War director went to great lengths to earn FromSoftware head Hidetaka Miyazaki‘s stamp of approval for his forthcoming live-action Elden Ring movie, including writing a 160-page script and flying to Japan to make an in-person pitch.
As reported by The New Yorker, the draft came with “40 additional pages of imagery” and worked its magic on Miyazaki during the meeting, which also saw indie film studio A24’s head of film, Noah Sacco, in attendance (“The lush visuals and fantasy setting reminded Sacco of the Lord of the Rings movies”, reads the article. He replied, ‘F**k yeah.’”).
The act may come across as overkill, but it certainly fits Garland’s self-professed superfan tendencies, following a revelation in June that he was on his seventh playthrough of the notoriously difficult RPG.
“It’s Malenia who’s the tough one”, Garland shared then. “I’m now on my seventh playthrough of that game. I’ve levelled up, I’ve got lots of juice, and a cool sword, and stuff like that, and I just throw myself at them again, and again, and again, and again.”
“That was the technique I learned with Dark Souls. It’s not that you get better, it’s more like monkeys and typewriters. You just keep doing it, and eventually, one day they’re dead.”
As the live-action Elden Ring adaptation is still in its early stages, there’s no word on story specifics, a release window, casting choices, a production date, or other key details. Garland is reportedly eyeing Heartstopper and Warfare star Kit Connor in a major role, however, with A24 and Bandai Namco set to produce. Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin is also attached as a producer.
Hailing from FromSoftware, best known for their Souls series of games, the original title was crowned Game of the Year at 2022’s The Game Awards and continues to be a fan favourite. Elden Ring: Nightreign was released as a multiplayer spin-off in May, while a Nintendo Switch 2 port of Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is due later this year.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
Kevin Low
