Elden Ring movie officially in the works, Alex Garland attached to direct

Demonstrating that no video game is beyond being turned into a film or TV series, From Software’s tough-as-nails open-world RPG Elden Ring is being adapted to the big screen by film studio A24. Ex Machina and Civil War director Alex Garland is currently attached to write and direct the live-action movie.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, A24, the film studio known for modestly-budgeted quirky auteur movies, such as Everything Everywhere All at Once and A Different Man, is partnering with Bandai Namco Entertainment for the film. George R. R. Martin, the A Song of Ice and Fire writer who worked on the Elden Ring video game, will serve as a producer on the movie, along with Vince Gerardis. The film’s production was obliquely hinted at by Martin on his blog in 2024, suggesting that this film may have been in the works for a while. Details such as casting, release windows or even how exactly a game known for its non-linear storytelling could possibly be adapted into a movie have yet to be revealed.

A sprawling fantasy epic such as Elden Ring does feel a bit out of A24’s wheelhouse. Alex Garland’s 2024 film Civil War remains the most expensive movie that the studio has produced, and even that only had a budget of $50 million. It’s certainly not a small amount, but it’s spare change compared to the budget of the average Disney film. Furthermore, while there are plenty of games whose narratives can be easily adapted into a linear medium like film or television, the works of From Software are not those games. Featuring silent protagonists and minimalist storytelling based around background details and pieces of lore drip-fed through item descriptions and off-hand NPC comments, it’s very unclear how one could replicate that in any other medium aside from that of video games.

You can’t fault a studio for trying, however. Elden Ring’s success, having won GOTY at The Game Awards in 2022 and its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion controversially nominated last year, is hard to dispute. However, just because something is an excellent video game doesn’t mean it will necessarily be a good anything else. We will have to wait and see how this turns out as more information about the film’s production comes to light. In the meantime, Elden Ring fans will have the multiplayer-focused Elden Ring Nightreign coming out next week and releasing on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam on the 30th of May.