In its second weekend, You Can See Everything is defying box office expectations on an experimental documentary, even tailgating more traditional blockbusters like Clayface and Street Fighter. That doesn’t mean distributor A24 is above a video game movie here and there. Based on the hit FromSoftware fantasy, Elden Ring will be their first foray into game adaptations. And they’re betting big on it. The Wall Street Journal reports it will be A24’s most expensive movie to date. By a lot. Reportedly $200 million, a figure that only one of their films has crossed with returns.
Announced last year, the trend-setting A24 is venturing into the cross-media trend with FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. Directed by Ex Machina and Civil War’s Alex Garland, there have been few signals of how the lore-dripping world will be handled beyond its sprawling cast and stumbled-upon sets. What has been reported is that the studio is sparing no expense, as a source tells the Wall Street Journal that it boasts the budget of a Marvel movie.
A24 has seen a number of critical and commercial hits in their short history, but they’re often leveraged off productions with a budget modest compared to modern blockbusters. Prior to Elden Ring, their most expensive film was Josh Safdie’s manic ping pong epic Marty Supreme, which more than doubled its $70 million investment. The studio’s only film to make more than $200 million thus far was this year’s dark horse hit Backrooms, which only cost $10 million to produce.
It’s even a figure alien to most video game movies. While some adaptations can rake in a cool billion, they’re more often family-friendly offerings, such as Minecraft, Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin’s dark, foreboding landscape captivated players, but how a movie like that will perform on the big screen is relatively untested. In addition to Elden Ring, A24 also announced that they are developing a film based on Death Stranding. While there’s no current release schedule for that film, Hideo Kojima’s affairs rarely come cheap.
Of course, a big part of A24’s appeal to movie goers is their willingness to look beyond spreadsheets. Once upon a time studios knew the business required crowd thrilling hits and more bespoke pieces, pleasing their accountants and cultural obligations at the end of the day. Fill the coffers with some horror movies. Bankroll the next Kelly Reichardt. Make the world a better place. It’s an arrangement most of the cultural industry has forgotten, and a formula that ultimately enables A24 to twist $5 million into $50. A $200 million budget could sting, but no one beats these FromSoft things on the first try.