[rewrite this title] Alex Garland’s Elden Ring Film Should Capture the Essence of Fantasy Warfare

Alright, so, let’s think about this for a minute. Picture this: If you had the choice to bring in any hotshot director to create an Elden Ring movie, who’d pop into your head first? Maybe you’d go with Peter Jackson, the dude behind those epic landscapes in Lord of the Rings, or Guillermo del Toro, who’s all about the fantastical and creepy – kind of makes sense, right? Or hey, Miguel Sapochnik, the guy who gave us those insane battles in Game of Thrones, could totally pull it off.

But what if you’re craving something a bit weirder? Like, Robert Eggers, who’s got this nosy thing going on with Nosferatu, or Yorgos Lanthimos, who brought us the quirky Poor Things. Add Bong Joon Ho, known for stirring things up with Mickey 17, into the mix – why not? They all have a knack for weaving surreal, almost cryptic tales, much like FromSoftware, the brains behind Elden Ring.

Honestly, I bet Alex Garland wasn’t on your list. Yeah, that’s right, the guy who did Ex Machina and Annihilation – those sci-fi flicks that are more about making you think than blowing stuff up. But here we are, with A24 thinking Garland is the man to breathe life into Hidetaka Miyazaki’s legendary game on the big screen. Bold move, right? I mean, Garland’s not the kind of guy to just take a paycheck and coast, so I’m super curious about how he’ll pull this off.

At first glance, this choice might seem as odd as dipping french fries in a chocolate shake. Garland’s typically seen wrestling with science fiction, not the hardcore fantasy realm – which is notoriously tricky, even more so when it comes to video game adaptations. Unlike FromSoftware’s style, his films usually revolve around plots, dialogues, and characters. Meanwhile, games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne tell tales in, let’s say, unconventional ways – think cryptic item descriptions and old, dusty environments.

Then again, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Just because Garland hasn’t dabbled in fantasy yet doesn’t mean he can’t nail it. Let’s face it, he has a history of shaking things up. I mean, look at how different Civil War or Warfare is compared to Ex Machina or Annihilation – and those are worlds apart from his early scripts before he started directing.

For those who don’t know, Garland’s not a stranger to gaming. Kind of blew my mind, really. His script for 28 Days Later was sparked by his love for Resident Evil, and there’s this scene in The Beach that’s like a bizarre nod to Banjo-Kazooie with Leonardo DiCaprio. Crazy, right?

Some directors just nod along to whatever fanbase they’re trying to win over (I’m looking at you, M. Night Shyamalan with Avatar: The Last Airbender). But Garland? Nah, he’s a genuine fan of The Last of Us, BioShock, and Dark Souls. He gets it, you know? He once mentioned to Gamespot how Dark Souls has “embedded poetry,” and how conversations with these “broken souls” make the game feel like a dream. Powerful stuff.

So, will he sprinkle that “existential dream” vibe over Elden Ring, like he did with Annihilation’s trippy visuals? Maybe. But he could also take cues from Warfare, his tense, gritty film about Navy SEALs in Iraq. Why, you ask? Well, just like in Elden Ring, watching Warfare makes you feel outnumbered, outmatched, just hanging by a thread – it’s a shared vibe.

Swap a war-torn desert for Elden Ring’s eerie landscapes, and maybe we’ll see a focus on the gritty, day-to-day struggles of a lone Tarnished. Someone so caught up in surviving that the bigger quest – whatever becoming Elden Lord really means (it’s all Greek to me) – seems to drift away into the background.

Rumor has it, Garland might bring Kit Connor from Warfare on board, which could mean we’ll see something similarly intense. Using Warfare as a springboard for Elden Ring could be a stroke of genius if he taps into the raw emotions and immersive action he’s known for. It’d be like building on what truly worked in HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – by understanding the original game’s core before translating it to film.

Elden Ring doesn’t offer a power fantasy where heroes show off and flatten monsters in explosive ways. Nope, it’s an anti-power journey where players, nameless warriors, face endless challenges. For Garland to hit those cinematic highs, capturing this raw, bittersweet essence could be key. And judging by his past work, he might just pull it off when Elden Ring moves from console to cinema.

So there you have it. Would you have picked Garland? Maybe not. But should we buckle up for whatever wild, unpredictable path this movie takes? Absolutely.

By the way, this is me, someone scribbling about art and history here and there. Caught the journalism bug at NYU, and now I write for folks like Vox, Slate, GQ… you get the drift. Let’s see if Garland surprises us all.