Elden Ring is set to become A24’s biggest financial gamble yet. The studio’s first video game adaptation is reportedly being made with a budget of around $200 million—more than double the previous high-water mark for an A24 production.
The figure comes as A24 enjoys a strong year at the box office. Its experimental documentary You Can See Everything is defying box office expectations in its second weekend, competing for attention with larger releases including Clayface and Street Fighter.
A24 takes on FromSoftware’s fantasy world
Announced in 2025, the Elden Ring film marks A24’s move into game adaptations. Alex Garland, known for directing Ex Machina and Civil War, is attached to direct. Beyond reports of a large ensemble cast and extensive location work, details about how the game’s dense mythology will translate to cinema remain limited.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the production carries a budget comparable to a Marvel film. That would place it far outside A24’s usual financial territory and make it an unusual proposition for a studio better known for distinctive, comparatively modest productions.
How the budget compares with A24’s previous films
A24 has built a record of critical and commercial successes without routinely spending blockbuster sums. Before Elden Ring, the company’s most expensive film was Josh Safdie’s table-tennis drama Marty Supreme, produced for $70 million. The film reportedly more than doubled that investment.
The studio’s only film to pass $200 million in box-office revenue so far is Backrooms, a dark-horse hit made for just $10 million. That contrast highlights the scale of the proposed Elden Ring investment: the film would need to perform at a very different level from many of A24’s earlier successes.
A different kind of video game adaptation
Budgets of this size are unusual across game-to-film adaptations, although some have reached billion-dollar grosses. The biggest commercial examples have generally been family-oriented properties such as Minecraft, Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog.
Elden Ring presents a less tested proposition. Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin’s bleak, intricate world has attracted a huge player base, but its grim tone and fragmented storytelling have not yet been proven as a mainstream cinematic formula.
For readers following the wider games industry, our arcade news and gaming coverage offers more context on how major properties continue to move between interactive entertainment and other media.
Death Stranding is also in development
A24 has also announced a film based on Death Stranding. No release schedule has been confirmed for that project, though Hideo Kojima’s ambitious productions are rarely associated with small-scale ideas or inexpensive execution.
The $200 million commitment could challenge A24’s reputation for turning relatively lean productions into major cultural and commercial events. It is a very different calculation from developing a dedicated arcade machine or choosing hardware through an arcade machine buying guide, but the underlying question is familiar: can a bold investment connect with its intended audience?
A24’s appeal has long come from balancing accessible entertainment with more individual, risk-taking films. Elden Ring will test whether that approach can survive a production budget normally associated with superhero franchises—and whether FromSoftware’s world can justify the gamble on the big screen.
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