The Death Stranding Movie Already Has Major Problems

Video game adaptations are all the rage, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Death Stranding is being adapted. It already has a director and two writers, although the writers are the director and the game’s creator, Hideo Kojima. Otherwise, very little is known other than it will adapt the source material and is coming from A24. There are plenty of video games that have been adapted onto the big screen, many of which did not have clear, detailed narratives (looking at Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and trying to ignore A Minecraft Movie). Most games, even narrative ones, aren’t as cinematic and story-based as the two Death Stranding games, which makes them an unsurprising mark for Hollywood.

However, there are already two big problems facing the movie adaptation. The second game just came out to huge critical acclaim in 2025, positioning itself as a real Game of the Year contender. It, as well as the original, poses a tall task for Michael Sarnoski and the rest of his crew.

The Death Stranding Movie Has a Ton of Ground to Cover

Neither Death Stranding nor its sequel, On the Beach, is a short video game. According to the trusty HowLongToBeat website, the original takes 40.5 hours (the director’s cut shaves it to 38 hours). Completing the extra tasks takes about 60 hours. Death Stranding 2 requires 34.5 hours (59.5 to do the extras).

Combined, that’s almost 70 hours of game to adapt. It’s unclear now whether the movie will tell the story of both games or similarly split into two parts. Even if it does go the part one route, that’s still nearly 40 hours of content to adapt into a two – or maybe three-hour film.

Of course, some of the gameplay can naturally be cut. We don’t have to see every journey Sam Porter Bridges takes across the remnant of America. We don’t have to see every mission he completes, but that would still involve shaving so much of the game, and part of the allure of the length of the game is how much you, as the player, feel like Sam and get to see the development unfold.

There’s no marketing for the movie. As mentioned, there’s very little information on it. Director Michael Sarnoski only got attached to it a little while ago, so it’s in the infant stages. Still, there’s been no talk of a part one or part two situation here, although it feels likely. If it isn’t, that only compounds the issue above. There’s just a ton of game, and something tells me Hideo Kojima isn’t going to enjoy sending his beloved work into the shredder to cut it down to size.

Who Could Possibly Play the Characters?

The other issue facing the movie is perhaps an even greater one. Screenwriters and directors, as well as movie studios, are adept at shaving things down. If there’s a way to condense this story or tell it in two shorter parts, they’ll figure it out. The cast is a much bigger problem.

The cast for both video games is incredibly impressive, already featuring notable Hollywood faces. Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, Guillermo del Toro, Margaret Qualley, Mads Mikelsen, Elle Fanning, and George Miller would be an outstanding cast for a movie. It’s a little shocking that they make up the bulk of the cast for video games.

That makes an adaptation hard, especially thanks to the animation style. Death Stranding is a pretty realistic game, at least in its graphical design. Sam looks like Norman Reedus. Fragile is a perfect representation of Lea Seydoux. In doing this, the characters are almost inextricably linked with the actors.

So that gives the movie two options. First, it can just reuse the same actors, with a few alternates for directors who won’t really act in movies or for video game actors who don’t want to foray into live-action films. Unfortunately, that’s just lazy. It doesn’t bring anything new to the table. It is literally just like porting the game into movie format, and a good adaptation always brings something new or interesting to the table.

The second option is to recast, but who would be able to effectively step into Reedus’s enormous Bridges Boots and carry the role? He is Sam, so anyone else in the role would feel weird. The perfect solution would be to animate it with a distinct art style so that it’s different from the games and doesn’t require the same cast, but that’s not going to happen.

Reedus, Qualley, and some of the others might like playing these characters in a different medium, but that just isn’t ideal. They’ve played the characters before for a long time, so they don’t have anything unique or new to add to the portrayal. A different actor would have a different take on Sam, but he is too close to Reedus to effectively pivot. The movie will either have the same cast, which is kind of boring, or they’ll upset fans of the game with a new set of actors. Either way, it’s not ideal for the adaptation.

Stay tuned for updates on the Death Stranding movie.

Are you looking forward to the adaptation? Let us know in the comments below!

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