Alex Garland’s Elden Ring movie is reportedly A24’s most expensive film ever

You know A24, right? The indie distributor that practically became a tastemaker for cinematic weirdness, backing everything from Spring Breakers to Hereditary. They've built their brand on clever, ambitious filmmaking – often without spaffing the GDP of Luxembourg on the budget. Which is why their next big project, an adaptation of Elden Ring, might raise a few eyebrows. Subtle it is not: this one is proper blockbuster territory, and then some.

From Soulslike to Silver Screen

Elden Ring, if you somehow missed it, came out in 2022 and basically blew up the games industry. This is the sprawling, punishing fantasy RPG from Hidetaka Miyazaki and FromSoftware, with world-building by none other than George R.R. Martin – yes, that George R.R. Martin. Since launch, it’s racked up nearly 36.4 million copies sold across Steam, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Rhys Elliott over at Alinea Analytics reckons the game has pulled in about $2 billion in revenue. So it's not exactly an obscure niche curio, is it?

36.4 million units of Elden Ring have been sold so far, generating an estimated $2 billion in revenue.

With a world that size and as detailed as it is, translating it to film was never going to be a quick, cheap job. Enter Alex Garland – yes, him of Ex Machina fame, and more recently Civil War. He’s the sort of director who knows how to deliver striking visuals and a proper sense of atmosphere, so frankly, if anyone at A24 was going to be handed the keys to The Lands Between, it had to be him.

Big Money, Big Stakes

But here’s the bit that'll make longtime A24 obsessives do a double-take. This adaptation isn’t just their biggest film – it’s absolutely dwarfing anything they’ve ever done in terms of budget. $200 million is the figure doing the rounds, putting it right in the same bracket as one of those Marvel behemoths. For comparison, Marty Supreme previously held the record at A24, and that was ‘only’ a $70 million job.

The scale shows in the cast too. This isn't some ensemble of up-and-comers filming on the cheap. The line-up includes Kit Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Ben Whishaw, and the ever-dry Nick Offerman. That lot are joined by Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz, John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird, and Peter Serafinowicz. If your fantasy adaptation doesn't have at least one actor who's played an archbishop or a robot, is it even trying?

Elden Ring is scheduled to hit UK cinemas on 3 March 2028, marking A24's first genuine mega-budget epic.

• Directed by Alex Garland
• Starring Kit Connor, Cailee Spaeny, Ben Whishaw, Nick Offerman, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz, John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird, and Peter Serafinowicz
• $200 million budget – the biggest in A24’s history
• Cinematic release set for 3 March 2028