Ever since FromSoftware revolutionized the RPG world with 2009’s Demon’s Souls, it feels like each subsequent release has begged to be given a cinematic adaptation. Dark Souls and its decaying, grimdark high-fantasy setting, Bloodborne and its nightmarish fusion of Gothic horror and H.P. Lovecraft’s cosmic terror, Sekiro and its blood-splattered, Edo-era tale of revenge; every game they’ve put out in the last 17 years could make for a high-concept blockbuster with a compelling setting. Luckily for fans, one of their games is soon to become exactly that.
Announced in 2025, an adaptation of FromSoft’s Elden Ring is in development from indie darling A24. Directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, last year’s Warfare), the film will be produced by frequent Garland collaborators Peter Rice, Andrew Macdonald, and Allon Reich, along with the writer of the game’s dense backstory, George R.R. Martin himself, as well as his Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon co-producer, Vince Gerardis. When the announcement dropped last May, fans assumed it would be a while before they heard anything more about the adaptation. The start of production, however, just broke that assumption.
Two videos from the film set have leaked courtesy of @ThroxTV on TikTok, confirming that the production has officially started shooting and showing off a glimpse of the visual accuracy it’s attempting to achieve. The more innocuous video shows off a row of carts, barrels, and other props that look like assets lifted straight from the game. The other video shows a glimpse of a ruined chapel that’s definitely one of the decrepit Churches of Marika, key discoverable locations in-game. At first glance, the video doesn’t tell us much aside from the fact that the film seems to be aiming for extreme faithfulness, but upon closer inspection, there’s a basis for speculating about when in the timeline it will take place.
Elden Ring takes place in a sprawling kingdom known as the Lands Between. These were once ruled by Queen Marika, a chosen vessel of the Greater Will, an imperceptible cosmic entity that maintains order in the world through the Elden Ring (a collection of runes and powers that govern natural law). Marika envisioned a paradise devoid of death, so she separated the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring and entrusted it to her personal guardian, Maliketh. The game takes place long after the Shattering, a cataclysmic event in which Queen Marika, wracked with grief after her son Godwyn ismurdered by assassins imbued with the power of the stolen Rune of Death, destroyed the Elden Ring and disappeared, shunning the Greater Will and plunging the Lands Between into an endless conflict between her demigod children as they battle for control of the remaining Great Runes. Got all that?
While fans were excited about the prospect of a film adaptation set before the Shattering, the decaying state of the Church of Marika seen in the leaked videos suggests that the film might actually take place after the Shattering. That’s not to say the movie will follow the game’s story, which could be set anywhere from a decade to millennia after the Shattering. Garland’s film could take place before the game, focusing on Marika’s children and the power struggle between them.
A film that follows the Shattering War instead of the game’s events would arguably make the most sense, as George R.R. Martin’s contributions to Elden Ring’s narrative lie mostly in the complex lore that sets the stage for the playable campaign. The game’s actual story (written by FromSoft’s creative director, Hidetaka Miyazaki) unfolds through interactivity and discovery rather than cutscenes, which makes it even harder to adapt than most games. Meanwhile, the fact that Martin’s other high-fantasy world has already been adapted to the screen might make his intricate backstory a more likely avenue for a cinematic adaptation.
Regardless, Elden Ring has a lot weighing on its shoulders: it’s the first adaptation of a FromSoftware game, and A24’s first attempt at a video game adaptation. Alex Garland certainly has his work cut out for him in bringing Martin and Miyazaki’s sword-and-sorcery epic to life, but at least he already has his barrels built.
