A24’s ‘Elden Ring’ Movie Is Shaping Up as a Marathon Fantasy Epic, and the Script Alone Is Massive

Video game adaptations have a reputation problem. They tend to either shrink sprawling worlds into tidy plots or lean so hard on fan service that outsiders get lost. A24’s live-action ‘Elden Ring‘ movie has been drawing attention for taking the opposite approach, and new details suggest the studio is going all in on scale.

The film is directed and written by Alex Garland, adapting the 2022 game from FromSoftware and Bandai Namco, which has shipped more than 30 million units worldwide. It was first announced in May 2025, with George R.R. Martin, who contributed to the game’s mythology, attached as a producer. Garland reportedly made a personal pitch to land the project.

According to Deadline, Garland’s screenplay runs to at least 180 pages including visuals. That has sparked speculation that the finished ‘Elden Ring’ movie could approach a three-hour runtime. No official runtime has been announced, and the figure is an inference from page count rather than anything A24 has said.

The rule of thumb is that one script page equals roughly one minute of screen time. Garland reportedly put together a 160-page draft with 40 additional pages of imagery before A24’s head of film, Noah Sacco, flew with him to Japan to close the deal with the game’s developer and publisher. One report adds that such a runtime would make it the second-longest film in A24’s history.

The script is described as faithful to the game, with large-scale battles against monsters and dragons. Kit Connor, best known for ‘Heartstopper’, is the protagonist, and his character’s journey is said to involve clashes with enormous creatures. Most other plot details are being kept under wraps.

A24 is guarding the material closely. Team members are reportedly flying to international buyers so they can read the script with a studio employee present, and certain sections are held back from buyers to avoid spoilers and build intrigue.

The scale extends to the budget. Deadline’s sources put it between $175 million and $200 million, closer to the upper end, which would make it A24’s most expensive film by a wide margin. The studio’s previous budget record belonged to ‘Marty Supreme’, estimated at around $70 million.

The movie is also heading to next month’s American Film Market in Los Angeles, where it is the biggest-budget standalone project ever offered at a film or television market. A24 will handle theatrical distribution in North America, and it is selling other rights to buyers around the world.

The first major deal is already done. Amazon MGM Studios has secured international pay-one streaming rights in a deal reportedly valued in the tens of millions of dollars. That gives the project an early financial cushion before it reaches the market.

For A24, the stakes are high. Slashfilm noted that the studio knows its cult following won’t be enough at the box office anymore, which makes this its biggest bet to date.

Connor leads alongside Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz, Nick Offerman, John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird and Peter Serafinowicz. It is also the first A24 movie filmed for IMAX. Producers include Peter Rice, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich from DNA, along with Martin and Vince Gerardis.

Garland has a history with the studio, having made ‘Ex Machina’, ‘Men’, ‘Civil War’ and ‘Warfare’ with A24. That track record is a big reason the studio trusted him with its largest project yet.

Filming wrapped over the summer, and the film is now in post-production with visual effects studio Industrial Light & Magic. It is set to arrive in theaters and IMAX on March 3, 2028. That leaves plenty of time for more details, and perhaps a first trailer, to surface.

Until then, the runtime remains speculation. Page counts don’t always translate neatly to final cuts, and editing can change a film dramatically.

The game can take hundreds of hours to play, and a movie has far less time to work with. A long script suggests Garland wants room to explore the Lands Between rather than rushing through it. Whether that ambition pays off will depend on how well the story balances mystery, spectacle and character.

For fans, the early signs are encouraging. A large budget, a big cast and a director who is a genuine admirer of the game make a strong combination.

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