A24’s ‘Elden Ring’ Affirms Video Games as Future of New Franchises
Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” could easily become the No. 1-grossing domestic film of 2025 after a tremendous holiday opening last weekend.
But gaming IP is still the MVP of this year’s box office — and could finally carve a path toward one up-and-coming distributor despite a seeming lack of franchise strategy.
In the current theatrical climate of franchises, establishing a dynamic approach to IP is crucial, and my recent special report for VIP+ covered how video games are meeting that task.
A24 last week revealed a film adaptation of acclaimed 2022 fantasy RPG “Elden Ring” is in the works from “Civil War” director Alex Garland, making it the second such movie at the arthouse distributor after an adaptation of Hideo Kojima’s “Death Stranding” was first announced that year and now has “A Quiet Place: Day One” director Michael Sarnoski attached.
Two films based on highly praised gaming IP may pale in comparison to major studios Sony, Universal and Warner Bros., which have turned to video games to expand their slates.
However, it’s the biggest sign yet that A24 is ready and willing to get franchises off the ground.
Ignoring the technicality of Joanna Hogg’s two-part “The Souvenir,” A24 has never released a sequel to any of its films. The closest it’s come is 2023 horror flick “Talk to Me,” which does have a sequel in development, but Australian twin directors Danny and Michael Philippou opted to make this weekend’s “Bring Her Back” first without much fuss from A24.
Despite no franchises, the last two years saw new records for A24’s annual domestic gross, as well as its most expensive productions to date: 2023’s “Beau Is Afraid” at $35 million and 2024’s “Civil War” at $50 million. Ari Aster’s “Beau” bombed hard, as opposed to Garland’s “Civil War,” which grossed close to $70 million domestically and $127 million overall.
That said, 2022 Oscar sweeper “Everything Everywhere All at Once” made it past $140 million worldwide and remains A24’s best performer — at half the budget of “Civil War.”
The same year “Everything Everywhere” took home best picture, one report emerged that A24 was pivoting more toward commercial films, with the distributor saying it was “widening the aperture” for bigger releases.
In 2023, its Oscar standout was overshadowed by Angel Studios’ “Sound of Freedom” over the summer, which earned $184 million domestically and $250 million altogether. Then in 2024, Neon’s “Longlegs” made as much as “Civil War” with a budget reportedly under $10 million, including marketing costs.
Meanwhile, video game movies are seeing debuts that gross as much as A24’s best films. The three biggest films based on gaming IP all came out over the last two years, with Universal launching a billion-dollar film series in one fell swoop with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which has a sequel due next April, and Paramount gaining a high-output franchise in “Sonic the Hedgehog.” The latter’s three entries have totaled $1.2 billion over five years.
The live-action ambitions of “Death Stranding” and “Elden Ring” will not be cheap, as both films must exceed the visual quality of their AAA originators. Neither is at the pre-production stage, but it’s tough to imagine they won’t rely on prominent casting to attract the biggest audiences possible alongside gaming fans.
Tapping Garland to direct “Elden Ring” is the best indication of this, given A24’s vote of confidence in “Civil War” and Garland’s own résumé, which includes a writing credit on 2013 video game “Devil May Cry.” In turn, “Elden Ring” was co-written by George R.R. Martin, who will produce its adaptation.
On top of most of the majors licensing gaming IP for movies, Sony is also building new action-espionage IP from the ground up. Announced in a livestream that ended with the project’s name emblazoned under the Columbia Pictures sign on Sony’s studio lot, “Physint” is being developed by Kojima alongside his “Death Stranding” games that the creator has indicated will be a “hybrid game and movie experience.”
A24’s last valuation in 2024 pinned the company at $3.5 billion after a funding round led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. However long its gaming adaptations take to get the greenlight for production, it’s clear A24 has yet to prove it can turn such venture-capital interest into visible franchises. As “Elden Ring’s” myriad bosses have proven for many gamers, a compelling challenge is easier said than done.
But gaming IP is still the MVP of this year’s box office — and could finally carve a path toward one up-and-coming distributor despite a seeming lack of franchise strategy.
In the current theatrical climate of franchises, establishing a dynamic approach to IP is crucial, and my recent special report for VIP+ covered how video games are meeting that task.
A24 last week revealed a film adaptation of acclaimed 2022 fantasy RPG “Elden Ring” is in the works from “Civil War” director Alex Garland, making it the second such movie at the arthouse distributor after an adaptation of Hideo Kojima’s “Death Stranding” was first announced that year and now has “A Quiet Place: Day One” director Michael Sarnoski attached.
Two films based on highly praised gaming IP may pale in comparison to major studios Sony, Universal and Warner Bros., which have turned to video games to expand their slates.
However, it’s the biggest sign yet that A24 is ready and willing to get franchises off the ground.
Ignoring the technicality of Joanna Hogg’s two-part “The Souvenir,” A24 has never released a sequel to any of its films. The closest it’s come is 2023 horror flick “Talk to Me,” which does have a sequel in development, but Australian twin directors Danny and Michael Philippou opted to make this weekend’s “Bring Her Back” first without much fuss from A24.
Despite no franchises, the last two years saw new records for A24’s annual domestic gross, as well as its most expensive productions to date: 2023’s “Beau Is Afraid” at $35 million and 2024’s “Civil War” at $50 million. Ari Aster’s “Beau” bombed hard, as opposed to Garland’s “Civil War,” which grossed close to $70 million domestically and $127 million overall.
That said, 2022 Oscar sweeper “Everything Everywhere All at Once” made it past $140 million worldwide and remains A24’s best performer — at half the budget of “Civil War.”
The same year “Everything Everywhere” took home best picture, one report emerged that A24 was pivoting more toward commercial films, with the distributor saying it was “widening the aperture” for bigger releases.
In 2023, its Oscar standout was overshadowed by Angel Studios’ “Sound of Freedom” over the summer, which earned $184 million domestically and $250 million altogether. Then in 2024, Neon’s “Longlegs” made as much as “Civil War” with a budget reportedly under $10 million, including marketing costs.
Meanwhile, video game movies are seeing debuts that gross as much as A24’s best films. The three biggest films based on gaming IP all came out over the last two years, with Universal launching a billion-dollar film series in one fell swoop with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which has a sequel due next April, and Paramount gaining a high-output franchise in “Sonic the Hedgehog.” The latter’s three entries have totaled $1.2 billion over five years.
The live-action ambitions of “Death Stranding” and “Elden Ring” will not be cheap, as both films must exceed the visual quality of their AAA originators. Neither is at the pre-production stage, but it’s tough to imagine they won’t rely on prominent casting to attract the biggest audiences possible alongside gaming fans.
Tapping Garland to direct “Elden Ring” is the best indication of this, given A24’s vote of confidence in “Civil War” and Garland’s own résumé, which includes a writing credit on 2013 video game “Devil May Cry.” In turn, “Elden Ring” was co-written by George R.R. Martin, who will produce its adaptation.
On top of most of the majors licensing gaming IP for movies, Sony is also building new action-espionage IP from the ground up. Announced in a livestream that ended with the project’s name emblazoned under the Columbia Pictures sign on Sony’s studio lot, “Physint” is being developed by Kojima alongside his “Death Stranding” games that the creator has indicated will be a “hybrid game and movie experience.”
A24’s last valuation in 2024 pinned the company at $3.5 billion after a funding round led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. However long its gaming adaptations take to get the greenlight for production, it’s clear A24 has yet to prove it can turn such venture-capital interest into visible franchises. As “Elden Ring’s” myriad bosses have proven for many gamers, a compelling challenge is easier said than done.