Death Stranding movie aims to capture the "soul" of the games, but will be its own original story – and even Hideo Kojima won't be involved "too much"

The upcoming live-action Death Stranding movie will be an original story set in the same world as the game universe created by Hideo Kojima.

"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 and explore characters you haven't seen before – and find all of that scope and all of those incredible real locations, but also find all of those nuances characters and do justice to this on a macro and micro scale," writer-director Michael Sarnoski said during the Kojima Productions 10th Anniversary: Beyond the Strand livestream.

Sarnoski continued, "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. I think finding that balance and finding a way to tell a really human story in this world that captures everything that we love about it is really the goal."

Kojima added that it was "essential" that the Death Stranding movie wouldn't be a pared-back adaptation of either of the two games, noting that is why he wanted a writer-director to craft their own vision. To that end, he won't get involved "too much" in the creative process.

Let's hope Kojima mirrors his own response to gamer feedback, which he deliberately ignored in order to make Death Stranding 2 as weird as possible.

The Death Stranding movie, produced by A24, is currently undated and without a set cast, though director Michael Sarnoski has played both the first Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid in preparation for entering Kojima's mind-melting universe, which sees the world fighting to reconnect after an apocalyptic event.

If you're eager to find out more about its game sequel, we have guides on the Death Stranding 2 length, the full Death Stranding 2 cast, and the Death Stranding 2 tips we wish we had known before making our rounds.

For more, check out the other upcoming video game movies currently in the works.