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Death Stranding movie director has done his research and played the game and Metal Gear Solid, but Hideo Kojima won't let him play the other entries in the series

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By Issy van der Velde published 24 April 2025

I wonder why?

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Norman Reedus in Death Stranding
(Image credit: Kojima Productions)
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Death Stranding is getting a movie adaptation, which, if you've played it, you'll find odd because it's already the most film-like game to ever exist. It's being produced by A24 with A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski set to helm the project, and Hideo Kojima has already given him his seal of approval.

As translated and shared online by Genki, Kojima spoke about the movie on Koji10, his radio show. Genki's translations state that Sarnoski is "smart, has good taste, and is a very nice person, so is happy he can direct the film." Also, the director "doesn't seem like a typical Hollywood person" and has played Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid 1, but Kojima stopped him from playing 2 and 3.

Hideo Kojima says the Death Stranding live-action film with A24 will be an unbelievable and strange film! via @koji10_tbs He says Director Michael Sarnoski is smart, has good taste and is a very nice person so is happy he can direct the film. He says Michael properly played… pic.twitter.com/pJXH3kMfMPApril 22, 2025

It is unclear why Kojima would stop the director from playing those games. It could be that he wants the director to have his own take on the work rather than simply trying to emulate Kojima himself. If so, that's quite a big leap of faith and a huge compliment. Or, it could just be that the movie-loving Kojima wants to see someone else's interpretation because he could learn from it or appreciate it differently.

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Obviously, playing Death Stranding feels like a no-brainer, and Metal Gear Solid is a good way to get into the mind of Kojima and understand how he sees the world. Maybe the Metal Gear games are just too different from Death Stranding, and Kojima didn't want the director to be influenced into a more action-heavy style?

In the meantime, check out everything we know about Death Stranding 2.

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TOPICS
Konami Hideo Kojima
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Issy van der Velde
Issy van der Velde
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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.

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