Is Elden Ring getting a movie or TV show? George R.R. Martin is playing coy: “I know nothing, you never heard a peep from me”
Is the man behind Elden Ring’s worldbuilding hinting at a potential film or television series?
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In the wake of the launch of the gargantuanElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLCa little over a week ago, one of the biggest pieces of news about FromSoftware’s award-winning fantasy action RPG was that the studio and its president, Hidetaka Miyazaki, is open to potential adaptations of the game. While Miyazaki feels that the developer doesn’t have “the knowledge or ability” to explore other mediums like movies and TV for stories in the Lands Between, he does say there’s interest in doing so with “a very strong partner.”
“I don’t see any reason to deny another interpretation or adaptation of Elden Ring, a movie for example. But I don’t think myself, or FromSoftware, have the knowledge or ability to produce something in a different medium,” he said inan interview with The Guardian. “So that’s where a very strong partner would come into play. We’d have to build a lot of trust and agreement on whatever it is we’re trying to achieve, but there’s interest, for sure.”
Miyazaki’s comments didn’t make it sound like there’sactuallya project in the works yet, but wait: George R.R. Martin — the author of the critically acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire (AKA, Game of Thrones) fantasy novels that helped FromSoftware with Elden Ring’s worldbuilding — put upa new blog poston June 29 about an award he won for contributing to the game, and there’s a snippet from it that’s raising eyebrows.
“Oh, and about those rumors you may have heard about a feature film or television series based onELDEN RING…I have nothing to say,” Martin wrote, suspiciously playing coy. “Not a word, nope, not a thing, I know nothing, you never heard a peep from me, mum mum mum. What rumor?”
So, does this mean that there’s anElden Ringmovie or TV series on the way? Ultimately, it’s impossible to say right now, as Martin’s teasing could just be exactly that: teasing to stir up all the Tarnished out there eager for more content in the Lands Between (especially now thatit’s been confirmed Elden Ring isn’t getting more DLC). However, there might actually be something to this message from the author, too.
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Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s biggest fantasy RPG by far — and I’m not just talking about its map size.It sold over 12 million copies in just a few weeks post-launchback in 2022, and in the leadup to the arrival of its DLC in June,it hit 25 million sales. The Shadow of the Erdtree DLC itselfmoved 5 million units in just a week; to compare,the Dark Souls trilogy sold 27 million copies innine years.
Put simply, it’s one of the best-selling games of all time, and that’s the kind of popularity I’m betting will make eyes pop out at film studios and TV networks,especiallyin the wake of the wildly successfulFallout TV series. And hey, adapting Martin’s work to a show worked out pretty well for HBO, even if its eighth season was a dumpster fire (House of the Dragon is great, though).
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From a business perspective, an Elden Ring adaptation makes plenty of sense. Whether or not the RPG iswell-suitedto one, though, is debatable. FromSoftware’s approach to storytelling is fairly unique and driven by the interactivity of its games, with most lore and narrative beats conveyed through NPC questlines, environmental details, and the descriptions of items that players acquire through attentive exploration and resilient determination. It’s a huge part of what made the story in Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and now Elden Ring so interesting to unravel, and I do worry much would be lost in an effort to tell a more traditional and “digestible” story in a movie or TV.
With that said,Sekiro: Shadows Die TwiceandArmored Core 6show that FromSoftware’s more straightforward narratives are still great, and I’d love to see what some of the best minds in film and television could cook up with a world so vast, deep, and intriguing that YouTuberVaatiVidyais able to make multiple movie-length lore videos about its history and characters.
If something does eventually come, something interesting to note is that it actually won’t be the first official Elden Ring adaptation. That honor goes toElden Ring: Road to the Erdtree, a hilarious parody manga that’s been running for over two years now. It’s even gota paperback release!
The Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is finally here, and it makes one of thebest Xbox gamesandbest PC gamesof all time even better. It’s out now on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, and Windows PC for $39.99.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree | $34.89 at CDKeys (Xbox)
Shadow of the Erdtree is Elden Ring at its most refined, with the base game’s overly formulaic elements cut away and some of FromSoftware’s best boss fights. The result is a 40-hour-long masterpiece of a DLC that’s an absolute must-play for any Soulsborne fan.
Also see:Shadow of the Erdtree (PC, $37.09)|Deluxe Edition (PC, $90.89)
Collector’s Edition:Bandai Namco Store (€249.99)
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
