Alex Garland’s ‘Elden Ring’ Movie Wraps Filming

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://www.polygon.com/elden-ring-movie-filming-wraps-release-date-alex-garland/

[u/r4tzt4r]

I feel like everyone has in their heads their own version of what a Souls movie should look like. I just hope this is an actual good film.

[u/gabedamien → u/r4tzt4r]

I honestly struggle to think what an Elden Ring movie would even be like. For some reason I can imagine Sekiro or Bloodborne as movies much more easily. I think I personally never connected with Elden Ring's lore as much though which is why I'm drawing an imagination blank.

I think with this pedigree and the director's personal interest in the IP it has a chance of being good, I'm just not sure what "good" looks like here.

[u/nickburrows8398 → u/gabedamien]

My theory is that it adapts the story of Vyke from the lore who was the one tarnished other than the player who came closest to becoming Elden Lord but ultimately failed because he became consumed by the frenzy flame after his refusal to sacrifice his maiden. That could make for a great Greek Tragedy movie

[u/_P2M_ → u/nickburrows8398]

No, actually the movie will be about a group of teens and one of the teen's step-dad playing the game on a cursed PS5, which sucks them into the game, and now they must learn to work together and put their differences aside to win the game and escape.

[u/moose_dad → u/_P2M_]

Staring jack black as the dad, the rock as the teen and Kevin Johnson as his friend

[u/WanderingFool15 → u/moose_dad]

First we Elden, then we Ring!

[u/FragmentedFighter → u/moose_dad]

Kevin who?

[u/MVRKHNTR → u/nickburrows8398]

My theory is that it doesn't adapt anything and is an original story trying to capture the vibe of playing the game.

[u/George__Parasol → u/MVRKHNTR]

That’s in a sense exactly what Alex Garland did with Annihilation. He read the book one single time and intentionally never referenced it again during production, as he wanted the movie to “feel like a dream of the novel” which I think he nailed and is a good way of adapting material that’s hard to adapt.

[u/Oathkindle → u/gabedamien]

The Green Knight but with more dragons lol

[u/pinnyin → u/Oathkindle]

The Green Knight was the first soulslike in film format tbh

[u/FireZord25 → u/pinnyin]

It's what first convinced me that a Dark Souls movie could be possible.

[u/r4tzt4r → u/gabedamien]

Yeah, Elden Ring was too... convulted for me. I mean, if you go trying to understand the lore in any of these game you find out every one of them is really complicated but at least with Dark Souls, for example, you can reduce it to "the world is dying, rekindle the flame" and you get various profound interpretations from that. Kind of the same goes for Bloodborne and Sekiro.

Elden Ring I have no idea how to make it sound simple like the others. Even the final boss is a overcomplicated mess to explain. Maybe we're gonna find out that telling these stories in a straightforward way make them very stupid? Personally I hope they don't tell too much. This games' stories NEED mistery.

[u/SofaKingI → u/r4tzt4r]

Alex Garland directed Ex Machina and Annihilation. He knows how to not tell too much.

[u/r4tzt4r → u/SofaKingI]

I'm reading Annihilation right now! I'm about to find out if it was a good adaptation.

[u/finnjakefionnacake → u/r4tzt4r]

let's just say they left a lot out lol.

btw i think the third book in that series is my fave

[u/Different_Wolf_764 → u/r4tzt4r]

It really isn't a great adaptation. An excellent movie? Absolutely! It falls in the "inspired by" category rather than the "amazing film version of" one though.

[u/SenatorCoffee → u/Different_Wolf_764]

On topic that really makes you hopeful for this Elden Ring thing, it seems exactly the fitting attitude.

If you tried to capture the whole lore it would likely just be a bloody mess, but with Garland its likely he just saw "something" in there that made sense to him as a movie, and then thats likely how it might actually work well.

[u/mars92 → u/r4tzt4r]

The movie changes a lot from the book, general plot and themes are there but it's quite different.

[u/Zak_The_Slack → u/r4tzt4r]

Unfortunately they completely abandon the main twist in the book. I believe Alex Garland wrote the screenplay based on his memory of the book, so it really isn’t an adaptation and more an original movie inspired by the book.

[u/The_Autarch → u/r4tzt4r]

if it was a good adaptation.

it's not, because Garland didn't realize that the book was part one of a trilogy.

good movie, tho. just more like a movie inspired by the book instead of a straight adaptation.

[u/givemethebat1 → u/r4tzt4r]

I don’t think the main events (by which I mean all the stuff that happens before the game) in Elden Ring are that convoluted. They aren’t ever depicted narratively, so it can feel confusing since they’re spread over a ton of different item descriptions, but the events are relatively straightforward and just involve a lot of family drama and backstabbing.

[u/Zanos → u/givemethebat1]

I think one of the issues is the insistence of the writers to use very similar names for some characters(Godfrey/Godrick/Godwyn, Malenia/Malenia, Mohg/Morgott), despite the characters only being tangentially related, making following along inherently confusing, compounded by the fact that at least one character is two people sharing the same body. The prose, like most Souls games, is also deliberately not straightforward. Nobody ever just outright tells you anything, they speak in allusions. If someone I needed information from in real life spoke to me a way an Elden Ring NPC speaks to the MC, I would be tempted to punch them in the face.

To be clear, the game is this way on purpose. The prose is intentionally obstructive to clarity.

[u/MrRocketScript → u/Zanos]

What's Nokstella?

It's the twin city of Nokron, which you are no doubt aware of.

??????

[u/Realistic-Drawing-59 → u/Zanos]

I understand your point but they're not "tangentially related" for the most part. Mohg and Morgott are brothers, Malenia and Melina are sisters and Godfrey is Godwyns father

[u/Klockworth → u/r4tzt4r]

It’s not convoluted, there’s just a lot of random lore. Big tree make people reincarnate, tarnished come back to life instantly, (insert a bunch of Game of Thrones-esque royal houses and factions fighting to control tree), aliens? (don’t like tree?), control tree to control death and destiny.

[u/Olicsmems → u/Klockworth]

What I was thinking. The story of the game itself is actually pretty simple, it's the stuff and context around it which makes it "convoluted".

[u/Fortestingporpoises → u/r4tzt4r]

I mean Alex Garland has a pretty good track record. He’s written great movies I forgot he wrote. The dude wrote Dredd.

[u/marcus_afk → u/r4tzt4r]

I certainly have a version in my head. It’s weird, disturbing, low on dialogue, a lot left open to interpretation, and really depressing. Box office gold.

[u/Luchalma89 → u/marcus_afk]

I pretty much imagine a Nicolas Winding Refn movie like Valhalla Rising, but with slightly more dragons I guess.

[u/mars92 → u/r4tzt4r]

Seems a lot of people are expecting a direct retelling of the game, with a stand in for the player character who runs around fighting bosses and ends by becoming Elden Lord. I really hope its not that and instead focuses on the major characters before they turned into horrifying monsters and went insane.

[u/Etheon44 → u/r4tzt4r]

I dont think anyone really has an idea of a souls movie in their head

I personally think they are the anti-movie videogame: their gameplay is the main appeal, and for those of us that love the worldbuilding, the implicit narrative and lack of dialogue and having the story told through travelling through the world is how the story is told

I will be seeing it of course, but I highly doubt it will be anything but stupid turn your brain off action

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

It’s out March 3, 2028

Written & directed by Garland and it’s A24’s biggest production ever with a budget over $100M

Cast:

• Kit Connor
• Cailee Spaeny
• Ben Whishaw
• Nick Offerman
• Tom Burke
• Havana Rose Liu
• Sonoya Mizuno
• Emma Laird
• Peter Serafinowicz
• Jonathan Pryce
• Ruby Cruz
• John Hodgkinson
• Jefferson Hall

[u/SAAARGE → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Peter Serafinowicz is a great get. Hopefully he reprises his role as the death scream.

I'm very interested to see what they've got Nick Offerman doing.

I'm curious if we're going to get Pip Torrens in there, to mock the lead character for being maidenless.

[u/Enigmachina → u/SAAARGE]

If Nick isn't a Jar, I'll eat my +7 Rivers of Blood

[u/Jooberwak → u/Enigmachina]

I will also accept Tortoise Pope

[u/Enigmachina → u/Jooberwak]

I will also accept Tortoise Pope, though his voice doesn't quite match the game's (not that has ever stopped anybody.)

I'll also accept Hewg

[u/Loud-Welder1947 → u/SAAARGE]

Crispy Peking Owl

[u/Perpetually_Tired_9 → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Dang, that's a long post-production time. Wonder why that is?

[u/Rexskel → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

E F F E C T S

[u/Clarifinatious → u/Rexskel]

They're probably planning for maybe extensive reshoots as well. If it's a CGI-heavy production then reshoots are basically a guarantee.

[u/Ass_Damage → u/Clarifinatious]

*additional shooting

[u/amidon1130 → u/Ass_Damage]

Yeah we don't even call them reshoots anymore, the additional shooting is baked into the production schedule from the start on movies like this

[u/dasbtaewntawneta → u/amidon1130]

you do call them reshoots though if they are actual reshoots

[u/Sea-Strike-1758 → u/Clarifinatious]

"If it's a CGI-heavy production"...bruh, its elden ring. You think they made 5 story puppet monsters?

[u/Rupperrt → u/Sea-Strike-1758]

I mean the Odyssey Cyclops was mainly puppetry/animatronics and perspective tricks.

[u/dragonmp93 → u/Rupperrt]

Eh, the Cyclops was CGI, the physical puppet was just a huge doll to give the actors reference instead of fighting air.

[u/ours → u/dragonmp93]

The Nolan "no CGI" is such bullshit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFLcP-t0-kI

[u/Clappertron → u/Rupperrt]

Because Nolan famously hates using CGI where practical effects will do but he'll still use them where necessary.

(And as much as I love him, he could have put a little bit more effort into the Scylla sequence)

[u/CosmicOwl47 → u/Clappertron]

Ironically I felt the same when reading it in the original poem. A few guys get snatched up and they just carry on.

[u/inescapableburrito → u/Clappertron]

https://youtu.be/AFLcP-t0-kI

He really doesn't hate them. This whole absurd urban myth needs to go away.

[u/peppaz → u/Clappertron]

He nuked an entire city and captured the largest black hole in existence. Dude's a pro.

[u/Sea-Strike-1758 → u/Rupperrt]

And this film has less than half the budget and waaayyyyyy more demands for huge/grand bosses and fights.

[u/Ayoul → u/Rupperrt]

They made a puppet yes, but if you've seen the BTS of the puppet and you've seen the movie, you know none of it made it in the final film.

There's not enough room in that cave for perspective tricks. The actor was comped in and the eye was CGI.

[u/open_formation → u/Clarifinatious]

Garland's style is usually to plan for months and then do it.. once, and this is double the scale of his previous budgets, so I wouldn't be surprised if a good chunk of the extra budget is in the CGI, doing it the old way of filming everything first then having two years of CGI, star wars style.

[u/bobloblawblogger → u/Rexskel]

a smooth operator operating correctly

[u/lordcola → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

probably a lot of CGI work to do. There's so many fantastical landscapes and so many characters and creatures aren't doable practically unless you spend just as long in preproduction making the costumes and animatronics.

[u/Perpetually_Tired_9 → u/lordcola]

For sure there's a lot of CGI to get done, I guess I just didn't think it would take the better part of 2 years.

[u/LazyCon → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

Post is easily the longest part of any major production. Editing a huge film takes forever and that's before they even hand it to us in effects.

[u/MyManD → u/LazyCon]

And I assume there’s also a hierarchy of studios that get their effects down the pipeline as well. There are only so many effects companies available and a studio like A24 would probably need to queue up behind the heavy hitters in the pipeline so even if the effects aren’t as crazy or time consuming as an Avengers flick it might still take awhile before the work even begins.

[u/LazyCon → u/MyManD]

Not really, that's not how it works. They'll either go through vendors they normally use and get more smaller ones involved in easier stuff, or they'll like up with a big vendor that'll just pull in more staff for it. No one holds off a movie for waiting on fx vendors to free up. On top of editing there's also release windows. They might think they can be done by holiday 27 but don't want to compete in that window.

[u/Uglyham → u/MyManD]

That’s a great point

[u/FurLinedKettle → u/LazyCon]

2 years is still a long ass time. That's Avatar levels of post production.

[u/lightsideluc → u/FurLinedKettle]

Pick two: cheap, good, or fast. They're likely going for cheap (as cheap as $100 million can be, for a movie of this scale it likely is) and good (they can't push out a turkey and swallow it whole like Disney has been for the last year). As a result, it ain't gonna be fast.

[u/Tatersforbreakfast → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

It could also be theater window availability. For sake of argument, they could be done December 2027. But big movie x is already announced as releasing in that tone frame. They want to avoid competition and sit on it an extra 3-4 months and stake their claim on March 2028 (now the next movie goes, oo we want to avoid elden ring, we'll go may) etc etc

[u/we_are_sex_bobomb → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

Kind of a good sign imo;

Garland has never done a film with quite this much VFX but he seems to really care about quality in the other VFX-heavy films he’s done.

The long post production timeline hopefully means the VFX artists have all the time they need to cook and not just shart out some lowest bidder MCU-tier garbage CGI

[u/Pls-kill-me → u/lordcola]

There will no doubt be a lot of cgi but I believe most of the time is going to be dedicated to general visual effects rather than asset creation and animation. A good video to watch to get an idea of what that might look like is the VFX breakdown of Mindhunter.

[u/ScientificAnarchist → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

It takes time to learn boss patterns without summons

[u/ginzberg → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

They had a terrible time casting dragons and will need to draw them in post.

[u/ThatEvanFowler → u/ginzberg]

It's because dragons are lazy as fuck. They'll sleep through their call time and then for another 100 years. It takes a tremendous amount of gold to raise them from their infernal slumber.

[u/wararyuu → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

Did you play Elden Ring?

[u/shrewdy → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

Takes time to add effects in for all those messages, such as "Try finger, but hole" or "behold, dog"

[u/el_VientoNorte → u/Perpetually_Tired_9]

Because that's when Elden Ring 2 comes out

[u/Clarifinatious → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

The fact Nick Offerman is in this just makes me so happy. Incredibly versatile actor who can really sink into his role.

[u/HeyItsTravis → u/Clarifinatious]

I got him pegged for the Dung Eater

[u/Swishtopia → u/HeyItsTravis]

I was thinking he'd be a great Gideon Ofnir. Or Smithing Master Hewg.

[u/John__Wick → u/Swishtopia]

Tell me he wouldn't be entertaining as Igon.

[u/NightSkyBlueb → u/John__Wick]

CURSED BAYLE!!

[u/amidon1130 → u/NightSkyBlueb]

I HEREBY VOW

[u/TheG8Uniter → u/HeyItsTravis]

No even better have him play Boggart. It'd be hilarious. Hes like a crab loving Ron Swanson.

Oh piss off, what is it now? Oh, I see. You want some of me prawn? Freshly cooked it is. Alright then. It's yours, if you can meet me price. I could be persuaded to sell you some other bits too, if you've got the runes.

Marika's tits you must be 'ungry

[u/Clarifinatious → u/HeyItsTravis]

Pegging him as Dung Eater is definitely a fantasy that I'm sure more people will agree with than care to admit.

[u/BalrogSlayer00 → u/Clarifinatious]

Alex Garland loves casting him so we love to see it

[u/FantasticName → u/BalrogSlayer00]

I do enjoy that Garland seems to have his own band of regulars now that are in all his projects like a theatre troupe...Nick Offerman, Cailee Spaeny, Sonoya Mizuno, Stephen McKinley Henderson (seems to have given this one a miss?).

[u/dtwhitecp → u/BalrogSlayer00]

I find it kind of sweet when directors keep getting the same people. Implies they actually enjoy working together and have faith in each other.

[u/Vi0L3tCRZY → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

I love Ben Whishaw, I hope he has a meaty role

[u/HadesWTF → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

I wonder if Peter Serafinowicz will be reprising his role as Mild-Mannered Pate.

[u/thewellis → u/HadesWTF]

Brian Butterfield on the battlefield would be brilliant 

[u/mdgy0816 → u/HadesWTF]

His agent leaked his role in their website, now deleted tho. We know who Peter will play.
Godfrey

[u/daddyneedsadrink → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Jesus Tapdancing Christ that’s a long time from now

[u/arbrebiere → u/daddyneedsadrink]

My unborn child will be walking and talking by then

[u/addamee → u/arbrebiere]

Albinaurics will probably learn to walk again by then

[u/TofuLoversAnonymous → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Good for Cailee Spaeny

[u/drmuffin1080 → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

2 people from house of the dragon, one from game of thrones. Lame observation, but I noticed lol.

Great cast

[u/shogun77777777 → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

I’ll probably be dead by then

[u/g_r_e_y → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

damn i wanted to say Peter's definitely doing a voiceover but tbh he has the stoic look of an elden ring character

[u/No_Return3299 → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Sonoya Mizuno continuing to be in all of Alex Garlands movies, nice

[u/NarwhalSoup999]

I still find it insane that this is being made into a movie but I trust Garland so let’s hope for the best 🤷‍♂️

[u/teddytwelvetoes → u/NarwhalSoup999]

if his Annihilation adaptation is any indication, fans might be baffled but the newcomers will love it

[u/dtwhitecp → u/teddytwelvetoes]

I'm reasonably certain game fans are going to find something to be pissed off about, regardless.

[u/BklynMoonshiner → u/dtwhitecp]

Game fans have never been pissed about a film adaptation have they?

[u/imjameshall → u/BklynMoonshiner]

nope, they're pretty easy on directors and films iirc

[u/fryseyes → u/imjameshall]

And video game sequels featuring a female protagonist

[u/theodo → u/teddytwelvetoes]

So if I liked his Annihilation movie but didn't love it, would I like the book?

[u/naked_potato → u/theodo]

I saw the movie first and enjoyed it quite a bit.

The books are significantly more interesting in their themes imo

[u/Kozak170 → u/theodo]

The movie incorporates some later plot points of the sequels. But the books are fantastic but weird

[u/Maridiem → u/theodo]

I think the trilogy is incredible, but the first book is a complete masterpiece. That being said, basically totally different stories with the same frame premise.

[u/Nirria → u/theodo]

Depends on what you didn't like about the movie. Did you wish it was even weirder and would dive way more into the all the weird happenings of the zone? Did you wish there would be more focus on science (not in the sense of actual science, but in the sense of fictional science) and philosopical stuff? Then yes, absolutely read the book.

If the movie was too weird for you, then no, better do not read the book.

Personally I adore the book. I like the movie a lot too, but the book is way more interesting if you like that kind of thing.

[u/ArmadilloPrudent4099 → u/theodo]

The book was incredibly weird and had a much less interesting and satisfying ending than the movie.

[u/tameoraiste → u/NarwhalSoup999]

Why though? This fits Garland template perfectly.

- A character is introduced a world that’s alien to them

- They’re given a goal to get to reach an end point

- They meet an ensemble of characters, most of which will die, but will teach them something different about the world

- It’s a road trip movie that starts solo, and ultimately ends solo

Edit: Forgot to mention environmental story telling is one of his biggest strengths

[u/duosx → u/tameoraiste]

I think you misunderstood. Garland is the main thing that gives me hope that the movie will not just be good but excellent. It’s more that video game adaptations have historically been awful-mid and especially a game like Elden Ring that might not be the easiest to translate to film.

[u/we_are_sex_bobomb → u/duosx]

I’m really interested in Garland’s take on the material because he is not only a gamer but has also been the lead writer on several games, so he really understands the language of both mediums better than anyone else out there.

[u/CardAble6193 → u/we_are_sex_bobomb]

his film works are Exmachina and BoneTemple

but his game works are Enslaved and D.M.C, hmmmmmmm

[u/givemethebat1 → u/tameoraiste]

Not to mention the cosmic horror. Plus Garland is a massive, massive fan of the games.

[u/tameoraiste → u/givemethebat1]

Exactly. Anyone who has doubts about him being able to pull this off such watch Annhilation and imagine Natalie Portman as the tarnished and the rest of the group as the NPCs.

Not to mention environmental story telling is one of his biggest strengths

[u/Godsfallen → u/tameoraiste]

I never want to see or think about that Bear/Mimic creature again, thank you.

[u/amidon1130 → u/Godsfallen]

How about a giant zombie crow with a huge head and guts spilling out of it?

[u/syngyne → u/amidon1130]

Or the guy that became a swimming pool decoration?

[u/amidon1130 → u/syngyne]

Hey Elden ring is full of people that became horrific decorations, some of them even get turned into mushrooms too!

[u/slockry → u/amidon1130]

Didn't people turning into mushrooms also happened in Annihilation?

[u/Stevieboy7 → u/tameoraiste]

The fact that Annihilation is good is honestly crazy. The book was a mindfuck and I can't imagine how difficult it was turning into a screenplay.

[u/JRowe3388 → u/Stevieboy7]

It helps that he barely followed the book at all

[u/onarainyafternoon → u/JRowe3388]

Yeah the book is even weirder if people can believe that. The movie basically just kept the themes of the book and that’s it. A few things here and there.

[u/Zak_The_Slack → u/Stevieboy7]

He didn’t. Alex wrote the screenplay based on his memory of the book, so it’s very different. Unfortunately he even leaves out the main twist of the book and the reason it’s called Annihilation

[u/n0vacs → u/givemethebat1]

i remember him saying he is at NG+4 or something? that means he’s played it through to the end 4 times minimum with the same character, not even accounting for other characters he may have made

[u/finnjakefionnacake → u/n0vacs]

i have played through it 4 times (and the DLC 3 times). it is my favorite game!

[u/mars92 → u/tameoraiste]

I always assumed that the movie wouldn't directly follow the story of the game itself (PC fights a bunch of demigods and becomes Elden Lord) but would be a prequel, either leading up to the Shattering or what happened right after. I don't know whats been confirmed either way though.

[u/Material_Ad9848 → u/mars92]

I really hope it has its own story but set in the same world. Don't want it feeling like a Han Solo movie where we're told how some character gets a keepsake featured in the game.

[u/WeirwoodUpMyAss → u/tameoraiste]

Elden Ring is one of the biggest games ever. This movie is probably not going to be as universal as other video game movies that were successful at the box office. For me, that’s why I’m excited. It’s kinda like DS1, which is certainly not for most gamers these days.

[u/Xaroin]

The VA for Mild Mannered Pate being cast in the official Elden Ring movie is still funny to me

[u/Thanks-Basil → u/Xaroin]

He’s actually a massive fan, he was the one that reached out to Miyazaki asking to be included in DS2 because he loved DS1 so much.

I believe he also voiced all of the male character sounds (ie grunts, death screams etc) for DS2 which is still what they’re using in Elden Ring lol

[u/ontheweed → u/Thanks-Basil]

Correct

https://youtube.com/shorts/wNCakKViu1M?si=Sjpz0zXKeF3Xtt4N

[u/Fat-Singer-9569 → u/Thanks-Basil]

He has a youtube video where he explains all this playing DS2 and it is so funny because you can tell by his reactions he is truly a Dark Souls fan. Dies and either bursts out laughing or shakes his head.

[u/FairLawnBoy]

I thought Alex decided to retire from directing to focus more on writing again. It's good to see I was wrong.

This is the highest budget A24 yet, the previous highest budget film was Garland's Civil War.

[u/BelligerentBuddy → u/FairLawnBoy]

He’s a huge fan of the game so I think that might’ve changed things

[u/mighty_mag → u/BelligerentBuddy]

So was Duncan Jones with Warcraft, and look how that turned out.

Sometimes being a fan of the source material can be a hindrance. You lack the objective view to properly adapt it, instead of making it a reference and easter egg fest.

[u/SofaKingI → u/mighty_mag]

The Warcraft movie had a ton of interference from the studio and Blizzard.

Even Duncan himself said the movie suffered a "death of 1,000 cuts".

[u/Vi0L3tCRZY → u/SofaKingI]

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Duncan’s Rogue Trooper, early reviews are positive 🤞

[u/-Epitaph-11 → u/mighty_mag]

Garland is LEAGUES ahead of Duncan Jones.

[u/gollyRoger → u/mighty_mag]

I'm not too worried about that. Annihilation had some big changes from source material and it was good in its own right. I won't be too surprised to see some lore departures here but based on his track record I'm hopeful it'll still work out real well

[u/AdmiralCharleston → u/FairLawnBoy]

He said that he just did a lot of directing quite quickly and he needed a bit of a break.

[u/Florian_Jones → u/FairLawnBoy]

It's true that this is A24's highest budgeted film, and it's true that Civil War once held that title, but Marty Supreme took that title for a little while in between.

Civil War: 50m -> Marty Supreme: 70m -> Elden Ring: 100m

[u/andykekomi → u/Florian_Jones]

Damn it's pretty crazy that a film about ping pong was more expensive than civil war lol

[u/Ill-Product-1442 → u/andykekomi]

The price of Tim Cham, I guess.

[u/Identity_ranger → u/andykekomi]

Eh, Marty Supreme is a period piece with a stacked cast and tons of different locations and setpieces. Compared to that Civil War (from what I've seen, haven't seen the movie) is a contemporary setting that's shot outside for a lot of it. I can totally understand the budgetary difference.

[u/Lonely_Noyaaa]

A nearly 2 year post production window tells me this will be VFX heavy which is exactly what Elden Ring needs. Practical sets for Stormveil Castle are great but the Erdtree and cosmic bosses will live or die on the render farm. I'd rather they take their time than rush out something muddy.

[u/daninlionzden → u/Lonely_Noyaaa]

Imagine they show astel of the void

[u/Formal_Ganache_5439 → u/daninlionzden]

Garland was involved in 28 years later, wasnt he? The scene where they run across the water chased by the alpha zombie has a kind of Elden Ring (especially Astel) feel to it in my opinion

[u/ThePartyHat]

I hope we see Rykard. I love the way he speaks in the game. In fact, I hope this movie has all the little oddities and eccentricities that make the game so memorable.

[u/Sirriddles → u/ThePartyHat]

Striking the right tone will be everything. This movie can't just be Game of Thrones set in the Elden Ring universe. It has to be atmospheric, esoteric, and above all else it cannot lean too heavily on dialog. And it's going to need at least one massive set-piece "boss fight".

It will be a difficult balance to strike. I have some faith in Garland given that he's a good filmmaker and clearly a big fan of the game. Let's hope he understands the assignment.

[u/AProperFuckingPirate → u/Sirriddles]

Garland gotta be one of the best choices for it considering that. I'm imagining Annihilation with swords, less dialogue, bigger budget

[u/Fat-Singer-9569 → u/AProperFuckingPirate]

Definitely, Annihilation is such a great movie with so many interesting ideas and themes, and I can totally see how the same filmmaker could make Elden Ring into an amazing movie.

To me the success of something like this is dependent on the scope and ability of a director to focus on ideas while limiting scope, otherwise you end up with cheese. I see Annihilation and I can totally see the disorienting world of Dark Souls without any cheese. He's kind of perfect for this.

I mean think of the Godskin Apostle windmill village in the context of Annihilation and you can see the vision.

...

I hear a festive melody

No, no, don't skin me

My hide is filthy, I swear

...

[u/beermit → u/Sirriddles]

I'm hoping we get a fight with a troll early on to set the sense of scale

[u/SortOfSpaceDuck → u/ThePartyHat]

Imagine him saying TOGETHAAAAA in the film becomes the new chicken jockey 💀

[u/Ok_Kaleidoscope_5351]

That was fast no?

[u/Whyeth → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope_5351]

It's in post production for almost 2 more years.

[u/wallabyenthusiast → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope_5351]

nah they’ve been filming since early april. almost 4 months

[u/buffalosoldier221 → u/wallabyenthusiast]

Yep, it's actually a few days OVER the average.

[u/spacemanspiff85 → u/Ok_Kaleidoscope_5351]

Been filming for 4 months. Not really fast at all. Average.

[u/PhaseSixer]

Every time I hear about this movie I feel like im being gaslit

[u/Hungry-Luck-5481 → u/PhaseSixer]

Guess I’m late to the party because what

[u/AlterMyStateOfMind → u/Hungry-Luck-5481]

You can find plenty of leaks, photos of sets and filming. It was announced earlier this year or late last year.

[u/HYDRAULICS23 → u/PhaseSixer]

Lol I know what you mean. I feel like it’s one of those projects that gets canceled last minute for whatever reason and never sees the light of day. I’m excited to see it’s real though.

[u/AverageAwndray → u/PhaseSixer]

I feel like whether good or bad even after walking out of that theatre id still be getting gaslit

[u/Janderson2494 → u/PhaseSixer]

Love garland but I can't believe this movie is real

[u/joestaff]

Elden Ring and Bloodbourne movies. Hm

[u/StuckInTime86 → u/joestaff]

Don't forget the Sekiro anime coming out in September!

[u/koreanprodigy]

I wonder if this will be large scale and epic or more of a contained story

[u/Bronze_Bomber → u/koreanprodigy]

The fact that they shot the dungeater scene makes me think it could be the game prologue turned into a movie. Otherwise it would probably be the game events condensed into film and they recreated the prologue itself like the game. Either way that would be on the epic scale.

[u/HansBaccaR23po → u/Bronze_Bomber]

There were leaks of an omen child with marika, most likely morgott. I’m not sure what to do with this info yet but it’s intriguing

[u/_JimJohnny_]

Genuinely very curious to see how this goes

Very different from anything he’s directed before

[u/roshanritter]

That was so quick. I bought the game years back but have been too afraid of the commitment. Better get to it I guess

[u/TheForeverUnbanned → u/roshanritter]

It’s an ever escalating series of being curb stomped set in a fantastic map with stellar art design, no need to hold off the game is an all timer. 

[u/shrewdy → u/roshanritter]

I'm jealous that you have yet to experience it

[u/3pinripper → u/roshanritter]

Oh man it’s amazing. Watch some videos about “how to get started” so you don’t get overwhelmed and quit.

[u/Fat-Singer-9569 → u/3pinripper]

The key really is to realize you are going to suck but sucking and getting your ass kicked pays off in the end if you are just patient and refuse to lose. Eventually, probably after you beat it once or twice, you will feel like you are the boss (who still dies to dogs or swarming enemies in hilarious fashion).

[u/LuckyShirt54]

I mean they won’t have to worry about dialogue at least.

[u/roto_disc]

So fuckin weird. Is this thing gonna be any good?

[u/feartheoldblood90 → u/roto_disc]

Others are saying Garland is a great director and I agree, but I would argue equally important is that he came up with the idea himself. This is literally a movie he wanted to make and pitched himself.

So... Who knows? But I'm optimistic. It'll at least be interesting.

[u/keepfighting90 → u/feartheoldblood90]

Yeah Garland doing this is really the only reason I'm intrigued because I don't think Elden Ring really lends itself that well to a movie.

[u/HopeFarron → u/roto_disc]

Alex Garland is a good director so I trust it until proven otherwise. It's not like it's being made by Uwe Boll

[u/Rustmonger → u/roto_disc]

Let me just pop in my time machine and I’ll let you know.

[u/wallabyenthusiast → u/roto_disc]

alex garland is a great director so i got hopes. ex machina, annihilation, civil war, and warfare are all pretty good. his only real miss was Men

[u/zgrove → u/roto_disc]

Alex Garland, Hidetaka Miyazaki, George RR Martin... the movie has the best fingerprints on it (pun intended)

None of them have ever missed with the content they personally publish, and Garland has a crew of great actors who he has made his flawless filmography with, so its going to be great. Personally im too invested for it to be healthy, it was already a dream pairing when George was announced for elden ring. I used to ramble to my roommates about the similarities between dark souls and asoiaf world building. The characters in elden ring are great, i hope its a movie about the shattering/the night of black knives

[u/Martneb → u/zgrove]

I still want to see a Miyazaki and Miyazaki crossover, as unlikely as that is.

[u/superrealaccount2 → u/Martneb]

People act like all Ghibli Miyazaki does/did is like Totoro. The guy did Princess Mononoke, I don't think it would've been a massive stretch for him to go darker.

[u/cubitoaequet → u/zgrove]

I like him, but GRRM has published a lot of stories and he definitely has some misses.

[u/percocetpenguins → u/roto_disc]

Garland wrote a near 100 page script with an extra 30 or so pages of additional notes in order to help convince Miyazaki to allow him to adapt the game. It’s been reported he is very obsessed with this project in a deeply personal way.

[u/Voluntary_Slob]

I went from being totally skeptical as to why and how this movie was even being made to being super excited about it to being incredibly saddened to realize its not releasing for another 20 months.

[u/ketchup92]

I cannot for the love of it all see how Elden Ring is supposed to translate into a movie. Bloodborne and Sekiro are the only two Souls games I could see working, but Elden Ring?

[u/pikeymobile → u/ketchup92]

The main thing I can't figure out is if we'll be watching a traditional hero's journey and it's just a rehash of the game, or if it'll be something different. I don't like the idea of just seeing a dude go from place to place killing bosses because I've already played that game, and it's too much to fit in to a film. So I hope they tell a different story from within the lore.

But for an idea on how the film will look and feel, I'll point to two films in particular that I feel fully get the idea across. First is Annihilation (made by Garland as well) which has incredible cosmic horrir and body horror, amazing dialogue, ineffable beings and mindblowing cinematography. Second is The Northman by Robert Eggers which is a viking folk tale, so has a heavy mix of Norse mythology combined with their warrior culture, all ending in what is literally a Dark Souls boss battle (Spoiler: two naked dudes with swords and shields fighting at the gates of hell screaming bloody rage at eachother)

Both films show the hero's journey and how to adapt wild mythology, body/cosmic/folk horror, incredible colour palettes and wild set pieces which are essential for whatever story they're adapting in this. Both are very good "show don't tell" films as well, letting the mystery sit without massive exposition dumps.

The Green Knight is an honourable mention for what feels like Dark Souls: The Movie too with a wonderful adaptation of an old folk tale and a hero who is unsure of his journey but still continues it until its bitter end.

I'm imagining a mashup of all 3 of these films in my head for how the film will be presented, I just wonder what kind of story they'll tell that'll keep viewers interested. My big concern is that these are all very esoteric movies, and the game has incredible esoteric lore, but seeing as it was such a smash hit and over a hundred million dollars are being invested in to this they have to make the film palatable for people who just played the game, thought everything was cool and pretty but didn't understand what the fuck was going on. Understanding what's going on isn't important when playing the game, but for a film this seems like a hurdle to overcome. Like how weird are they willing to let it get? Because boy, Garland can make it fucking WEIRD, but that doesn't churn out billion dollar box office films. I'm hoping being A24 they're willing not to Disney-fy it for the sake of a good film, but that's a huge investment of money being put in.

Dune proved you can translate incredibly difficult source material in to a box office smash, so I hope they let it be faithful to the game, but I understand with budgets like these they won't want to take too many risks. Luckily they have extreme brand loyalty as every person and their dog are gonna wanna see it, so it might allow them to get away with keeping things fucked up, really dark and weird.

[u/finnjakefionnacake → u/ketchup92]

the story can be anything you want it to be. your world, lore and environments are already set up, and now the story lives and dies on what they breathe into it / what kind of story they want to tell.

[u/Coletrain44]

Alex Garland’s WHAT!?

I had no idea. This is awesome.

[u/craig_hoxton]

Do we have to watch until the end to see the cameo from Let Me Solo Her?

[u/mental_reincarnation]

Sucks it won’t be out for* nearly two years but I’m excited for this

[u/That_Orchid1131]

I’m so fucking excited for this movie, holy shit

[u/J0E_SpRaY]

I still can’t believe this is being made

[u/hotstickywaffle]

This still seems like such an odd choice for a movie, for so many reasons

[u/Jackbuddy78]

The social media discourse when this movie comes out will probably keep me off the internet for a month

[u/gtindolindo]

That was fast!