Legendary video game director Hideo Kojima has had quite the month when it comes to Death Stranding, the 2019 post-apocalyptic title that was the debut game from his studio, Kojima Productions. Not only did a sequel get announced at The Game Awards 2022, but it was also revealed that he would be partnering with Barbarian executive producer Alex Lebovici and his Hammerstone Studios to create a film adaptation based on the game's world. After the shock and awe at both of these announcements wore off, fans have been clamoring to learn any details about either of the upcoming projects, and now a new interview has come out where he discusses how he wants to make his feature film debut, saying that he does want to make a "blockbuster film" with "flashy explosions" but rather a film with a more "arthouse approach."

In a recent interview with IGN at the Kojima Productions office in Japan, Kojima discussed the seven-year anniversary of the company, some of the themes of Death Stranding 2, and touched on his approach and vision for the upcoming video game adaptation. When asked how he came to be working with Lebovici and his Hammerstone Studios, he talked about getting a lot of calls from Hollywood about many different projects, not just for Death Stranding. He touched on how he didn't want to make a giant blockbuster, and it was that shared vision that got him to team up with Lebovici and Hammerstone:

I was on video calls with lots of people in Hollywood every week beginning last year, and not just for 'Death Stranding'. I received a lot of offers, but my intention from the start was never to make a blockbuster film. Alex Lebovici from Hammerstone Studios shared my vision with regards to that. There were a lot of pitches to make a large-scale movie with famous actors and flashy explosions, but what good would explosions be in 'Death Stranding'?

With how a single dead body in the world of Death Stranding can turn entire cities into mile-wide craters, explosions would definitely be something that would want to be avoided. Kojima continued to discuss how the project isn't driven by money and that it was the goal of making a film more akin to an arthouse movie that made him team up with Lebovici, who was the only person who agreed with this vision. "Making money isn't something I'm focused on at all, either," said Kojima. "I'm aiming for a more arthouse approach, and the only person who offered to make a film like that was Alex Lebovici, which makes me think he's a rather unusual type."

death-stranding-norman-reedus
Image via Kojima Productions

RELATED: 'Death Stranding' Studio Kojima Productions Will Now Make Movies and TV Shows

Making The Move From Game To Film

Kojima was asked if any decisions had been made to have characters from the game appear in the film, since one of the few things we do know about the story of the Death Stranding film is that it will introduce new characters and elements to the world and won't just be retelling the same story as the game. Kojima touched on how video game adaptations have tried to capture the look of their games and was one of the key reasons that they failed as movies. He wants to change and evolve Death Stranding to work as a film rather than just redo what he did in the game:

The failure of film adaptations of games from a while back has led to a lot of movies that cater to gamers, right? That's why they have the same kind of look as a game. I don't want the 'Death Stranding' movie to be like that. Rather, I'm taking the approach of changing and evolving the world of 'Death Stranding' in a way that suits film well. I made 'Death Stranding' to be a game, and games are games. There's no real need to turn them into films. So in a way, the 'Death Stranding' movie is taking a direction that nobody has tried before with a movie adaptation of a game. I think that what I need to make is something that will inspire some of the people who watch it to become creators 10 or 20 years down the line.

Death Stranding takes place in a fractured world following a cataclysmic event known as “Death Stranding,” which saw the area between the living world and the afterlife, known as The Beach, become entwined with the physical world which opened a doorway between the living and the dead, leading to creatures from the afterlife roaming the fallen world marred by a desolate society. The story follows Sam Porter Bridges, played by Norman Reedus, who works as a Porter, someone who travels across the desolate land to deliver goods to the isolated survivors. When the final President of the United States dies, Sam is tasked with reconnecting America and delivering a future that the survivors of the world can have hope for. Along the way, he meets many different characters, all portrayed by an all-star cast that includes Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Guillermo del Toro, Margaret Qualley, and Troy Baker, among many others. The game along with its “Director’s Cut” release from 2021 has sold over 10 million copies.

Death Stranding is available right now for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Microsoft Windows. You can check out the teaser trailer for the upcoming sequel Death Stranding 2 (Working Title) down below: