Death Stranding Movie Promises the Soul of the Games With a Bold Original Story — And Hideo Kojima Is Taking a Back Seat

Death Stranding is headed to live action, but not as a beat-for-beat remake. Writer-director Michael Sarnoski is cooking up a new story set in Hideo Kojima's beautifully bizarre package-delivery apocalypse, with Kojima stepping back and A24 footing the bill. Yes, it is as intriguing as it sounds.

Not an adaptation — a new story in the same world

Sarnoski laid out the plan during Kojima Productions' 10th Anniversary: Beyond the Strand livestream: keep the themes, ditch the straight adaptation. He wants the movie to feel like Death Stranding without simply re-staging mission objectives from the games. That means new characters, fresh arcs, and the kind of big, real-world locations the series practically begs for — plus the small, intimate stuff that actually makes it land.

'We really want to capture the soul of the game, capture the themes of the game, but tell a story you haven't seen in that world... We're finding another story in this universe that is both accessible to those who have never played the games before but also give something to those that know the games really well.'

Translation: newcomers should be able to walk in cold, and fans should still get the good, weird flavor they came for.

Kojima is letting a filmmaker be a filmmaker (on purpose)

Kojima called it 'essential' that the movie not be a scaled-down take on either of the two games, which is why he wanted a single writer-director to bring their own vision. In his words, he won't be involved 'too much' in the creative side. For a guy famous for control — and for making things delightfully strange — that's an interesting (and promising) handoff.

And if you're wondering how weird they'll let it get: Kojima has a track record of ignoring gamer feedback to keep Death Stranding 2 as weird as possible. If that attitude carries over, expect some bold swings.

Inside baseball details worth noting

Sarnoski didn't just skim a wiki. He played the first Death Stranding and even went back to Metal Gear Solid, which is a smart way to tune into Kojima's wavelength without copying it. The movie is live-action, produced by A24, and set in a world still trying to reconnect after an extinction-level event — the same high-concept backdrop as the games, just with a fresh plot.

• Format: Live-action feature film
• Producer: A24
• Story approach: Original narrative set in the Death Stranding universe (not retelling either game)
• Tone/aim: Capture the themes and scope of the games, balance big vistas with intimate character work
• Accessibility: Designed for newcomers, with extra texture for longtime fans
• Kojima's role: Minimal creative involvement by design; he wanted a filmmaker's own vision
• Director-writer: Michael Sarnoski (has played Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid as prep)
• Status: No release date, no cast announced yet
• Setting: Post-apocalyptic world focused on reconnecting a fractured society

Bottom line: it's a Death Stranding movie that actually wants to be a movie. No map markers, no fetch quests — just the same DNA, rebuilt for the big screen. Now we wait for a cast, a date, and the inevitable arguments about how weird is too weird. (Answer: there is no too weird in a Kojima world.)