Elden Ring Movie: Alex Garland's A24 Film Heads Into Post-Production

A24's live-action Elden Ring film is now in post-production. Writer and director Alex Garland wrapped filming in late July, and the film is set for release on March 3, 2028, shot for IMAX, according to Deadline. It is made with Bandai Namco Entertainment, the publisher of FromSoftware's hit game.

From Soundstage to Editing Room

News of the wrap first came from a prop maker’s post on Instagram, which showed a thank-you note signed by Garland and the producers, GamesRadar reports. The film now moves into editing and visual effects, and it will be a long wait for audiences.

Post-production on a large-scale fantasy film is lengthy. Editing a cut, building digital creatures and environments, composing a score and finishing the picture for IMAX screens all take months, and the March 2028 date leaves a long runway. The reports cited here mention no trailer or marketing schedule, so the next public glimpse of the film may be some distance away. A first look at the project did appear earlier in the year, according to The Sixth Axis.

Shooting for IMAX also shapes how a film is finished. Footage captured for the large-format screens uses a taller image, and the visual effects and color work must hold up at a scale far larger than a standard cinema screen. That raises the technical demands on the effects teams, which is one reason a film of this type is given a long finishing period. Neither A24 nor Bandai Namco has described the effects approach or named the visual-effects companies involved in the sources used for this report.

A Large Ensemble With Few Answers

Kit Connor and Ben Whishaw lead the film. They are joined by Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz, Nick Offerman, John Hodgkinson, Jefferson Hall, Emma Laird and Peter Serafinowicz, Deadline reports. The studio has not said who is playing which character, and no plot details have been shared. This week, Connor told Interview Magazine that he bulked up for his lead role, GamesRadar reports.

The cast list is notable for its range. It mixes younger performers with established stage and screen names, and it includes several actors who have worked with Garland before and others who have not. Because the game is built around a large world of warring figures and strange creatures, a deep ensemble is not surprising, but without character assignments it is impossible to say how large each role is. Fans of the game will have to wait for official confirmation of who is playing whom.

The Money and the Makers

The Hollywood Reporter has said the film's budget is well over $100 million, with around 100 days of principal photography. That would make it the most expensive film A24 has made. Peter Rice is producing with Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of DNA, along with George R. R. Martin, who worked on the game's lore, and Vince Gerardis, according to Variety. Deadline adds that Garland is a longtime gamer who reportedly pitched the project personally to Bandai Namco and FromSoftware.

Scale is the headline. A24 built its reputation on mid-budget and low-budget films, and Garland’s own Civil War in 2024 was an earlier step up in size for the studio. A production well past $100 million is a different order of commitment, and a long shoot of roughly 100 days suggests extensive physical sets and location work, though the reports cited here do not break down how the money is allocated.

The involvement of Martin, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, is also significant. According to Variety he is credited with the game’s lore, which means the film will draw on a mythology developed with a major fantasy author.

Why Garland, and Why This Game

Garland came to directing after writing screenplays, including 28 Days Later, and went on to direct Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men and Civil War. His films are known for ambitious ideas and unsettling imagery, qualities that fit a game famous for its strange landscapes and grim atmosphere.

Elden Ring was released by FromSoftware in 2022 and became one of the most acclaimed games of its generation. Its storytelling is largely indirect, told through item descriptions, environments and cryptic characters, which presents a challenge for any film: the adaptation has to find a clear narrative in material that was designed to be pieced together by players. The reports so far do not say whether the film will follow a specific story from the game or build its own, and no plot details have been released.

Garland’s Other Projects Are Waiting

The film is also affecting Garland's other work. Danny Boyle said this week that the third 28 Years Later film is on the back burner, partly because Garland has been busy with this "huge project." The Playlist notes that Garland may be tied up in post-production for most of 2027. You can read more in our report on 28 Years Later Part III.

That connection highlights how much of a filmmaker’s schedule a single large production can absorb. Garland is the writer of the 28 Years Later series, and his availability affects when that trilogy can be completed. Boyle’s comment does not rule out a third film, but it does indicate that no start date is imminent.

Part of a Larger Video Game Wave

The film is one of several video game adaptations in the pipeline. Paramount is also developing a Cyberpunk 2077 movie.

Studios have turned increasingly to games as source material, encouraged by the success of films such as The Super Mario Bros. Movie and A Minecraft Movie and by television adaptations such as HBO’s The Last of Us. Elden Ring stands apart in that group because it comes from an arthouse-leaning studio and a director with a reputation for darker material, and it will be a test of whether a challenging, adult-oriented game can translate to a big screen event.

What Remains Unknown

Many questions are still open: the characters, the story, the film’s rating, the first trailer and whether the release date will hold. Because the project is still in post-production, A24 and Bandai Namco have limited the information they share, and most of what has been published comes from trade reporting. The release is set for March 3, 2028, and the coming year is likely to bring only occasional news.