We’re very excited by the prospect of seeing a big-screen adaptation of Death Stranding, even if the bulk of its runtime consists of Norman Reedus trekking across Icelandic-looking landscapes while carrying weird shit inside his arsenal of carriers. And today, we find ourselves especially excited by the news that Michael Sarnorski, director of Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One, has been tapped to direct the film for A24 and Kojima Productions.
The 2019 action game, the first by video game auteur Kojima Hideo and his Kojima Productions after their split from Konami in 2015, was met by polarizing reviews at launch. Published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Death Stranding was criticized for its self-serious, emotionally undercooked vision. (We, by the way, loved it.) But given the satiric bite that Sarnoski so effortlessly laces into material that doesn’t lack for gravitas or genre thrills, we’re confident that he’s the right director to address what many see as the monotonal pitch of the game.
The game’s sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, sees the return of Reedus, Léa Seydoux, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Troy Baker, who will be joined by Luca Marinelli, George Miller, and Elle Fanning. Sony Interactive Entertainment, which hasn’t issued Slant code for any of its games since 2019, in retaliation for the site’s review of Days Gone, will release the game, now available for pre-order on June 24. Watch the pre-order trailer below:
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