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As game adaptations go, Exit 8 isn't an obvious choice. The indie horror hit is a walking simulation game where the player gets stuck in a loop in the Japanese metro. Not the easiest idea to bring to the screen, right?
Well, director of the movie adaptation Genki Kawamura says he approached it in a different way, and it's all thanks to some advice from Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Speaking to Game Informer, he revealed they met almost a decade ago and the interaction stuck with him.
"So, in terms of this game's appeal, I actually recall a talk that I had with Shigeru Miyamoto 10 years ago, and in one of his talks, he said that a really great game is not only fun for the players but also the people viewing the player playing the game," Kawamura explained. "And that essence is what we wanted to capture with this film. So at times, the audience is in the shoes of the player, and at times it's almost as though they're watching a livestream."
The Exit 8 movie takes the premise of the game and imagines a new story where a young man is trapped in a subway passageway. On his path to find Exit 8, he's warned to not overlook any anomaly and, if he spots one, to change his direction.
Kawamura added of his approach: "I didn't want to make a film adaptation of a video game. It was very important to me that we were blurring the lines between what is video game medium and what is a film medium, and in doing so, I think we created this very new film experience."
The Exit 8 movie first premiered at Cannes back in 2025 to generally positive reviews, scoring a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. It's now out in theaters in the US and out in the UK on April 24. For more, check out our interview with Kawamura where he tells us more about how streamers influenced his adaptation.
We've also got a list of all the upcoming video game movies you need to know about in 2026 and beyond.
