‘Death Stranding’ Movie Enters Pre-Production as Director Reveals Location Scouting Timeline

Video game adaptations have had a mixed track record in Hollywood, but few upcoming projects carry quite as much cautious optimism as A24’s take on one of gaming’s most divisive and ambitious titles. Hideo Kojima’s ‘Death Stranding‘ captivated more than 19 million players worldwide with its sprawling, genre-defying story blending post-apocalyptic survival with metaphysical themes about connection and isolation.

That ambition has made the film adaptation a genuinely difficult project to bring to life, requiring a director willing to honor the game’s unconventional spirit without simply recreating its plot beat for beat. Michael Sarnoski, best known for ‘Pig’ and ‘A Quiet Place: Day One,’ was tapped to write and direct the project back in 2025, giving fans a filmmaker with a track record of blending emotional storytelling with genre conventions.

That project is now moving into its next concrete phase. Sarnoski confirmed that pre-production on the live-action ‘Death Stranding’ film begins soon, with location scouting set to kick off shortly.

“We’re going on a scout in a month to scout some cool locations for the film,” Sarnoski said, according to BAFTA, giving fans their clearest timeline yet for how quickly the project is advancing behind the scenes.

That update follows a lengthy development process that’s included multiple rounds of script revisions since Sarnoski first signed on. Speaking previously about the writing process, Sarnoski described turning in a second draft of the screenplay and expressed hope of shooting the film in Iceland and Northern Ireland, giving fans an early sense of the film’s likely filming locations well before scouting officially begins.

Sarnoski has also been careful to manage expectations around how faithfully the film will track the source material. Rather than adapting the game’s actual plot, the story centers on entirely new characters navigating the same fractured, post-catastrophe world, with Sarnoski explaining that his goal is to capture the emotional core of what made the game resonate rather than simply retelling its narrative.

He’s described wanting to preserve themes of connection across space and time, isolation, and creativity, all elements he found personally moving during his own experience playing through the game. That approach has been echoed by Kojima himself, who has praised A24’s innovative storytelling sensibility and expressed enthusiasm about creating a ‘Death Stranding’ universe achievable only through the medium of film.

Sarnoski has also addressed questions about the film’s tone directly, clarifying that the adaptation won’t lean as heavily into graphic violence as some fans might anticipate given the game’s bleak, unsettling atmosphere. He’s described the world as inherently brutal, with death feeling perpetually close at hand, while emphasizing that the film’s action and tension will manifest differently than the survival-horror elements found throughout the original game.

That balance between honoring the game’s atmosphere and finding a distinct cinematic identity appears central to how Sarnoski has approached the project from the start. Kojima has granted the director considerable creative freedom in shaping the story, according to previous interviews, giving Sarnoski room to build out an original narrative within the established world rather than working under tight creative constraints.

No casting announcements have been made for the film, and it remains unclear whether any of the game’s star-studded voice cast, including Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux and Margaret Qualley, will factor into the live-action adaptation in any capacity. With location scouting now imminent, casting decisions likely represent one of the next major milestones fans can expect updates on.

The film is produced through A24 and Kojima Productions, with Lars Knudsen and Ari Aster’s Square Peg also serving as producers. Sarnoski has been working on the project alongside his most recent directorial effort, ‘The Death of Robin Hood,’ starring Hugh Jackman and Jodie Comer, suggesting his attention is now fully shifting toward bringing Kojima’s sprawling world to the big screen.

With scouting set to begin within the coming weeks and a script Sarnoski has described as nearly finished, ‘Death Stranding’ appears to be moving steadily toward actual production after years of anticipation. Given how faithfully Sarnoski has approached honoring the game’s themes while carving out something new, expectations remain high for how this unconventional adaptation ultimately turns out.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!