Hideo Kojima: Aiming for an Arthouse Approach With Death Stranding Movie - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 22 December 2022 / 2,729 Views
Hideo Kojima, Kojima Productions, and Alex Lebovici’s Hammerstone Studios last week announced a movie based on the video game Death Stranding.
Kojima in an interview with IGN explained his goal with the movie is not to make large-scale movie with explosions, but to make a movie with a more arthouse approach.
"I was on video calls with lots of people in Hollywood every week beginning last year, and not just for Death Stranding," said Kojima. "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? Making money isn't something I'm focused on at all, either.
"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."
Kojima was asked if there were any decisions if characters from the game will be making an appearance in the game and he said they haven't decided on that yet.
"We haven't quite decided that yet," he said. "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."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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That's what people say when they can't get the budget they want to make their movie.
So you think he is lying about being invited to make a big blockbuster?
Where did he say that? Every comment that I've seen seems like it's intended to put a good spin on a small budget..
He said he was invited to do big blockbuster production but refused because of the type of movie he wants to make.
Hmm. Okay.
No, you guys are hearing what you want to hear. He said that he was on calls for films other than Death Stranding, and that he was invited to make a big blockbuster. It does not then follow that the offers were for a big budget death stranding. This seems highly unlikely, considering that in the same interview he's talking about making an art house film. Art House is code for "less budget than I'd like".
It is possible that he was offered a big budget for death stranding and turned it down. But, that just is incredibly unlikely, considering the way that movie making works.
Nope, you are the one misinterpreting me.
I said he got invited to make blockbuster movie, I didn't say he got a propose to make a blockbuster Death Stranding movie. He said he wanted to make this type of movie instead of blockbuster, so unless you think Kojima lied about receiving proposition then it isn't a case of sour grapes.
I don't think it's sour grapes. I think it's that he doesn't have the budget he wants to make the movie he's making. It isn't relevant whether he got offers to do a blockbuster movie, unless those offers were for a blockbuster Death Stranding.
Anyway, I have no way of actually knowing what he was or was not offered, or what he does or does not actually want. I'm just saying that almost nobody turns down mega budgets for movies because they'd rather make an art house film. That just isn't how the industry works. Plus, he makes big budget games. He isn't the type of dude that wants to do it on a low budget because making a blockbuster is "selling out".
He gave his reasoning for not wanting to make a blockbuster movie (the type of experience), so perhaps even if he had blockbuster budget to make DS he wouldn't accept the type of production blockbuster tend to have. But sure it is all speculation.
Sounds like a good approach to me. It guarantees absolutely nothing about the end result, but sounds like a fine starting point.
Well I'm in favor of being creative, also not all movies need to be blockbuster, I know I'm curious to see what he will do.
Good luck getting the attention of most gamers (both sincerely and ironically). While there’s a minority with a taste for artistic films (especially among horror fans), most gamers prefer high budget films with rigid plot formulas—to the point where they’ll vastly prefer plot contrivances than a formula deviation. Also, gamers are fanatically cynical toward any filmmaker that breaks a mould—drawing up conspiracy theories about studio agendas and such.
On the sincere side—maybe he can open some eyes with an arthouse film and break that fanboy-level dedication to blockbuster type films. I’m definitely a fan of more interpretive type films over spoonfed plotty ones where stuff happens because it fits one of the three or four over-trodden formulas.
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