We truly are in the era of video game adaptations. While it was already known that Death Stranding was getting its film adaptation by way of A24, game creator and director revealed in an interview with Vogue Japan that they’re also currently working on an anime adaptation for the IP.
Kojima commented on adaptations like The Last of Us, which have kept the original plot as is, and the Super Mario Bros. Movie, which comes up with a wholly new story meant to cater to fans. He stated that he wanted to pursue something different with Death Stranding — something capable of winning awards at renowned film festivals.
“I’m also working on a live-action film adaptation of Death Stranding with A24. When it comes to recent adaptations of video games, there have been works like The Last of Us that have been filmed with the original plot as is, and movies like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which are meant to be a love letter to fans.
Vogue Japan
These works have their own merits, but as a movie lover, I want to pursue expression as a film. We are aiming to recreate Death Stranding in a way that can only be done through the film medium, that can win awards at the Cannes International Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival. In fact, we are also working on an anime adaptation now.”
Big words, Kojima. But the detail to pay attention to here is that last sentence. Kojima casually reveals to us that there’s also an anime adaptation for Death Stranding in the works. If the movie is meant to be a more artistic interpretation of the story, I imagine the anime might be a little bit more mainstream-friendly. But then again, with Kojima, who knows?
It’s no secret that Kojima has always wanted to make movies — he said as much in his Edge interview — so seeing the fruits of his labor with Death Stranding should be interesting.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a direct follow-up to the original game, and Kojima has confirmed that it’ll be a lot more combat-focused than its predecessor. He also recently revealed that On the Beach was originally going to have a hair growth system that allowed players to customize Sam’s hair and beard, but the feature got cut.
Death Stranding is now available on PC and consoles. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is set to be released for PS5 on June 26.
