A24’s ‘Elden Ring’ Film Adaptation from Alex Garland Will Go IMAX-Big in 2028

The adaptation will test if the prestige filmmaker can finally crack the code on video games. Plus: the full cast has been confirmed.

Alex Garland is finally venturing into the Lands Between film and games with “Elden Ring,” A24’s most ambitious swing at blockbuster entertainment yet. The indie powerhouse has confirmed new details about its upcoming movie adaptation, revealing Garland‘s live-action take on the massively popular fantasy game from Bandai Namco will hit theaters on March 3, 2028.

“Elden Ring” is being filmed in IMAX, and production on the project begins this spring. The film’s sprawling ensemble cast has also been confirmed, and it includes Kit Connor, Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz, Nick Offerman, John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird, and Peter Serafinowicz.

It’s a characteristically bold and daunting move from a studio that built its reputation on challenging, auteur-driven projects. Since its 2022 release, “Elden Ring,” the game, has sold more than 30 million copies. The title also earned over 400 Game of the Year awards, and became a full-blown cultural phenomenon that dominated Twitch and continues to sustain a huge global fanbase that’s still obsessed with its lore, gameplay, and hidden secrets.

Directed by the legendary Hidetaka Miyazaki, and shaped by world-building from George R. R. Martin, “Elden Ring” isn’t a traditional narrative so much as it is an immersive experience rooted in discovery. That distinction matters considering Hollywood has spent decades trying (and, too often, failing) to transpose video games into inspiration for something genuinely compelling on the big screen. Even after last year’s relatively strong showing for the genre, games adaptations have struggled to evolve beyond simply borrowing recognizable IP.

Instead, recent video game movies have tended to function more as “events” for existing fans (shout out, “Five Nights at Freddy’s”), while their prestige TV counterparts have broadly flattened the medium’s sense of exploration into a familiar rhythm that’s less effective. The result is a category of entertainment that’s commercially viable, but still creatively unsettled. And A24’s parallel attempt to adapt Hideo Kojima’s “Death Stranding” suggests the studio sees this niche space as a significant part of its future.

That’s what makes Garland an especially intriguing choice to direct “Elden Ring.” Across films like “Ex Machina” and “Annihilation,” the filmmaker has shown a knack for interrogating dense, motif-driven worlds without overplaying his hand. Most recently, Garland’s continued work on Sony’s “28 Years Later” trilogy has emphasized his unique ability to sustain extended, complex storytelling (even if individual entry “The Bone Temple,” written by Garland but directed by Nia DaCosta, disappointed at the box office).

A longtime fan of “Elden Ring,” Garland reportedly made a personal pitch for the project, suggesting a level of investment that could prove crucial when navigating such unwieldy material. There’s also cause for hope in the DNA of the game itself. “Elden Ring” is the rare collaboration between a developer like Miyazaki, known for his visual world-building, and Martin, known for his sweeping approach to lore. That partnership resulted in a universe that feels both meticulously constructed and spiritually alive, and “Elden Ring” could translate especially well to film if the characters are rendered with the right restraint.

Still, the scale of this challenge can’t be overstated. Turning a player-driven epic into a coherent, feature-length narrative is a fundamentally tricky task — because theatrical audiences can’t set their own pace. Filming for IMAX suggests A24 is comfortable leaning into “Elden Ring” for spectacle, but the true test will be if Garland can preserve the sense of personal mystery that made the game great in the first place.