Death Stranding is getting a movie adaptation
Hideo killed the radio star.
Hideo Kojima's idiosyncratic post-apocalyptic courier adventure Death Stranding is the latest in an increasingly long line of video games to get the movie treatment, courtesy of a newly announced collaboration between Kojima Productions and Barbarian executive producer Alex Lebovici's Hammerstone Studios.
Death Stranding, for those unfamiliar, stars The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus as Sam Porter Bridges, a courier trying to make ends meet in an aggressively wet corner of rural Wales. One day, his clothes unexpectedly fall off, a baby turns into goo, ...fish?! Then, walking!!!!
Okay, so that's not exactly how it goes (although it's not not, either) but it's fair to say Death Stranding's atmospheric tale of a post-apocalyptic United States - which, yes, does look at awful lot like Wales - is not short of wonderfully outlandish ideas. There are eerily invisible creatures, rain capable of ageing anything it touches, bottled babies able to bridge the gap between life and death, a mysterious plane of existence known as the Beach, and much, much more.
It's rich pickings for an adaptation, in other words, so it'll be fascinating to see which direction the movie heads. The official word for now is story details are "being kept under wraps", but new elements and characters within the Death Stranding Universe are promised.
"I couldn't be more excited about this new partnership with Hammerstone Studios," Hideo Kojima said in a statement accompanying today's news. "This is a pivotal moment for the franchise and I'm really looking forward to collaborating with [Hammerstone] in bringing Death Stranding to the big screen."
There no suggestion of when the Death Stranding movie might release, but it's currently said to be "on the fast track with development underway".
News of a Death Stranding movie follows last week's unveiling of Death Stranding 2, which will star Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, Elle Fanning, Shioli Kutsuna, and Troy Baker when it comes to PlayStation 5 at some currently undisclosed future point.