Alex Garland’s Elden Ring Film Should Capture the Essence of Fantasy Warfare

If I could pick any director for an Elden Ring movie, who would it be? Honestly, this question’s a bit of a brain teaser. Maybe you’d opt for someone like Peter Jackson, the guy who turned Tolkien’s tales into epic screen sagas. Or Guillermo del Toro, with his knack for blending the grotesque and the beautiful. But wait, ever thought about Miguel Sapochnik? He gave us those wild Game of Thrones battle scenes like Hardhome and Battle of the Bastards. Or hey, go wild with Robert Eggers or Yorgos Lanthimos – those guys could transform anything into art house gold.

But, yeah, probably not Alex Garland. I mean, would you? Ex Machina and Annihilation were more sci-fi cerebral than dark fantasy. Yet here we are, with A24 handing him the reins to the horse we never imagined him riding. What’s gonna happen? I honestly don’t know. This is the same guy who gave us Civil War and Warfare – films that, admittedly, have zero dragons or magic swords. But maybe there’s something there we just can’t see yet.

I guess what’s jarring here is that Garland’s usual style is all about character-driven plots, solid dialogues. FromSoftware’s worlds? They’re like this cryptic puzzle – a story you piece together from hints in item descriptions and shadows in the architecture. Civil War didn’t really dig deep into its own lore, which makes me wonder how he’s going to handle a universe as dense as Elden Ring. But hey, just because he hasn’t done fantasy before doesn’t mean he’s gonna crash and burn. His films have all been different from each other – maybe this’ll just be another twist in his career ride.

Funny thing, Garland’s a secret gamer. Shocking, right? Kinda blew my mind to find out he’s played Resident Evil and it shaped his 28 Days Later script. And there’s this scene in The Beach – I had to double-check this – it’s straight-up inspired by video games, like a Banjo-Kazooie fever dream starring Leo DiCaprio. Who knew?

Warfare – now that’s a film. Gives you that sinking feeling, like you’re outnumbered and overwhelmed – just like in Elden Ring when you face those impossible odds. You swap the setting from Iraq to Limgrave, and boom, you’ve got a similar mood. The story doesn’t have to be about the grand lore, with Marika and the demigods. It could totally focus on the player’s personal grind – trying not to get obliterated before making it to the next Site of Grace. Real talk, what does becoming Elden Lord even mean when you’re just trying not to die?

And guess what – rumor has it Garland’s eyeing Kit Connor, one of Warfare’s stars, for the movie. If this doesn’t scream ‘we’re going gritty’, I don’t know what does. It could really lean into those raw emotions – the fear and despair that Connor played so well. Drawing from Warfare could be Garland’s secret weapon to bring this game to life without morphing it into just another flashy fantasy flick. Remember The Last of Us on HBO? Yeah, it was stellar because it captured the essence of the game, not just its look.

Elden Ring’s not your typical hero story. No capes, no instant victories. It’s more like a relentless battle with death itself, a test of patience and grit. If Garland nails that – this mix of hope and hardship – we might just see something memorable. I’m kinda excited to see if this gamble pays off when the Tarnished finally steps onto the big screen.