Ghost of Tsushima movie director wants to "not only live up to but exceed" the game's visuals

Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island
(Image credit: Sucker Punch)

Ghost of Tsushima movie director Chad Stahelski has opened up on what fans may expect when the movie finally gets its eagerly-anticipated film adaptation, revealing his plans to "really try and not only live up to but exceed what the game has done with its visuals". 

In a new interview, Stahelski gave us a little hint at how the film will look when he talked about his love of "amazing visuals", confirming that he's "currently researching and working on" potential color palettes.

"I love Ghost of Tsushima, it's one of my favorite properties," Stahelski told Discussing Film. "I'm lucky to be attached to a couple of really cool properties right now, from Rainbow Six to a few other things. 

"Ghost of Tsushima is a really interesting story if you really dive into the tale of Jin Sakai and what the film is really about," Stahelski adds. 

"And you tie him to these amazing visuals. You can already tell from the John Wick films that I love color and I love composition. To really try and not only live up to but exceed what the game has done with its visuals is completely fascinating to me. 

"So that's something we're currently researching and working on," he added. "Like, how can you push the color palette? How can you bring that world to life in a very realistic and grounded way?"

The director also recently confirmed that the movie will be "a complete Japanese cast, in Japanese". Sony is reportedly "on board" with his plan to create an authentic Japanese experience that will be "visually stunning" and celebrate his "love of the country, love of the people, love of the language".

"So, I think if we did this right, it would be visually stunning," Stahelski said at the time. "It's character driven. It's got an opportunity for great action, great looks. And honestly, we'd to try to do it, all in character. Meaning, it's a Japanese thing about the Mongols invading Tsushima island.

"A complete Japanese cast, in Japanese. Sony is so on board with backing us on that. I've been going to Japan since I was 16. 

"I have a love of the country, love of the people, love of the language," he explained. "To try to direct not only in my language, but someone else's and culturally shift my mindset to bring apart that in a cool way that still entices a Western audience."

In case you wondered, whilst a sequel has yet to be formally confirmed, there have been some hints that Ghost of Tsushima 2 may already be in development. In an update posted by the studio last year, the studio outlined what games were not getting a sequel, and Ghost of Tsushima 2 was very clearly absent from that list.

Here's our roundup of all the upcoming video game movies.

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.