The Death Stranding movie might ditch Sam and other game characters

The Death Stranding movie might not feature any of the game's characters.

That's according to Death Stranding's game director Hideo Kojima, speaking to IGN in a new interview. When asked if any characters from the game would make the jump to the big screen version, Kojima said the movie's team "haven't quite decided that yet."

Death Stranding features photorealistic recreations of its cast members, including actors like Norman Reedus, Lindsay Wagner, Léa Seydoux, Margaret Qualley, and more. If any of these game characters were to be present in the Death Stranding movie, you'd assume Kojima and company would have to use the same actors as in the game.

Kojima also doesn't want the Death Stranding movie to specifically cater to gamers. The director attributes the failure of many film adaptations of games to attempting to emulate the games they're based on, and he doesn't want the Death Stranding movie to go down this route.

"Rather, I'm taking the approach of changing and evolving the world of Death Stranding in a way that suits film well," said Kojima, adding that because Death Stranding was always made as a game, there's simply no need to try and turn the game into a film.

Kojima claims the Death Stranding movie is something "nobody has tried before with a movie adaptation of a game." He also hopes it'll inspire some of the people who watch it to become creators themselves, potentially 10 or even 20 years down the line.

So far, we know only that the Death Stranding movie is a collaboration between Kojima Productions and Hammerstone Studios, and it'll introduce new characters. Considering Kojima and company haven't even settled on the final character roster for the film, it's a safe bet we'll be waiting a number of years to see the adaptation in full.

Meanwhile, Death Stranding 2 continues development at Kojima Productions in Tokyo, having just been revealed earlier this month in December.