‘Elden Ring’ Movie in the Works from Director Alex Garland at A24

The acclaimed game is based on a story by "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin, who will also produce the film.

“Civil War” and “Ex Machina” director Alex Garland is again teaming with A24 on what could be one of the most ambitious and expensive projects either the director or studio has taken on. Garland will direct for A24 a live-action feature film based on the acclaimed video game “Elden Ring,” and we only hope it’s less punishingly difficult for Garland to make as the game is difficult to play.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. and A24 announced the news on Thursday that the “Elden Ring” movie based on the FromSoftware game from Hidetaka Miyazaki was in the works. Garland is both directing and writing based on the mythological story as written by “Game of Thrones” author George R. R. Martin. Martin is also producing the film alongside Peter Rice, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich from DNA, and Vince Gerardis.

“Elden Ring” is an action RPG set in an authentic dark fantasy world. The game is an open world journey that allows players to explore vast environments and dungeons to discover the unknown and enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from overcoming obstacles and challenges. The games are an open world version of the “Dark Souls” games, which already had some of the most challenging gameplay and impossibly difficult bosses around, but now packaged in a sprawling world that allows players to seek out challenges they may not be even remotely equipped for.

“Elden Ring” is not only one of the best-reviewed games ever, it’s one of the best-selling games ever, having won Game of the Year from The Game Awards and selling over 30 million copies upon its release in 2022. A co-operative spinoff game, “Elden Ring Nightreign” will be released next week on Friday, May 30, and an all-in-one version of the first game, its DLC, and “Nightreign” will be available later in 2025 for the Nintendo Switch 2.

All of it makes it a big get for A24 in terms of the increasingly lucrative video game IP, and it suggests the need for an enormous visual effects budget to do the game justice. Garland with “Civil War” directed the biggest budgeted movie in A24’s history, which brought in $127.3 million worldwide. His most recent film “Warfare” for A24 opened last month and has made $32.1 million worldwide.