The game follows an unnamed player character, referred to as The Tarnished, who is on a quest to find the Elden Ring, which isn’t a ring but a vaguely defined object that dictates the metaphysical laws of reality. While George R.R. Martin contributed to the game’s worldbuilding—you can tell because there are a dozen nobles whose names are incredibly difficult to tell apart: Godfrey, Godrick, Godwyn, etc.—its presentation is pure Hidetaka Miyazaki. As the director of Elden Ring and many of FromSoftware’s other well-known games, like Dark Souls, Miyazaki’s storytelling style is inspired by his childhood experiences reading English-language fantasy novels that he only half-understood due to a tenuous grasp on the language. It will be interesting to see how Garland goes about recreating this intentional mystique, if at all, and how this compares to the other recently confirmed FromSoftware adaptation, the upcoming Bloodborne film.
As previously rumored, frequent Garland collaborator Cailee Spaeny will star alongside Heartstopper and Warfare’s Kit Connor. Other cast announcements include Ben Whishaw, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu (Bottoms), Ruby Cruz (Mare Of Easttown), Sonoya Mizuno (Devs, Ex Machina), John Hodgkinson (The Ferryman), Jefferson Hall (Game Of Thrones), Emma Laird (The Brutalist), and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars). Beyond A24, the film will be produced by DNA Films, a British studio that has frequently worked with Garland, and Bandai Namco Filmworks, which is an offshoot of the game’s publisher. Garland will be directing and writing the screenplay. Principal photography began in the UK this month, and filming will begin this summer. The movie will receive an IMAX release when it comes out roughly two years from now. Who knows, maybe by then we’ll have received word on a near-inevitable game sequel as well.
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