A live-action adaptation of Kojima Productions’ critically acclaimed video game series Death Stranding is pushing ahead. Of note today, Michael Sarnoski of A Quiet Place: Day One fame is now attached to both write and direct the upcoming film from A24, Kojima Productions, and Square Peg.
As in the original 2019 video game, the film is centered around a a post-apocalyptic United States fractured by a supernatural event known as the ‘Death Stranding’ that showers the earth with lethal ‘ageing’ rain, and a series of destructive rampaging creatures that threaten the very fabric of reality itself.
At the core of the narrative is Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus in the game), a courier whose mission is to deliver supplies to isolated colonies and help reconnect them to the world via an ambitious wireless communications network project.
With themes exploring human connection in a fractured world, family, death and the cycle of life, as well as and legacy and responsibility, the game has reached over 19 million players to date.
Also starring were Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Margaret Qualley, Troy Baker, Tommie Earl Jenkins, and Lindsay Wagner.
RELATED | Everything We Know About Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
The game’s sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, is set to release exclusively on the Playstation 5 on June 26, 2025. Events are set some 11 months after the original, and follow Sam on a fresh mission in a world still ravaged by the ‘Death Stranding’ phenomenon.
The delivery company Bridges has dissolved, replaced by a new organization called Drawbridge, hinting at shifting alliances and objectives, and a new world order.
Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Troy Baker all return for the sequel, and are joined by Luca Marinelli, George Miller, and Elle Fanning.
Sarnoski, who is also noted for directing Pig, starring Nicolas Cage, has just finished Death of Robin Hood for A24, starring starring Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer.
