Kojima calls the Death Stranding movie a two-hour art film and admits it might not work

Hideo Kojima has opened up about the Death Stranding movie in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, and his vision for it is deliberately unconventional. Rather than retelling the story of the games, Kojima wants the film to be a two-hour art movie — and he's upfront that it's a gamble. "I don't know if this will be successful, but that's the goal," he said.

Director Michael Sarnoski, known for Pig with Nicolas Cage and A Quiet Place: Day One, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Death Stranding is his next project. He's also writing the script himself, and while it's still in progress, he says it's "for sure" the next film he'll direct. Sarnoski previously noted the film will include characters not in the game, but with the aim of "keeping it honest to the game." The movie is being produced at A24 — the same studio behind the upcoming Elden Ring film from Alex Garland. Sarnoski's most recent project, The Death of Robin Hood starring Hugh Jackman, released on June 19.

Kojima was actually approached to direct the adaptation himself but turned it down. His reasoning is characteristically self-aware: if he got too involved, he said he would "start saying a lot of things." So he's deliberately keeping his distance, letting Sarnoski take the wheel while the film takes shape as something closer to an art house experience than a straightforward game adaptation.

No cast, release date, or other concrete details have been announced yet. Separately, the Entertainment Weekly piece also included a new screenshot from OD, Kojima's upcoming Xbox game.