As we learned last month, the live-action Elden Ring movie is real and is being produced by the filmmaking company A24, with Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation, Warfare) serving as its director. And now, it's come out that he's not only played FromSoftware's critically acclaimed Game of the Year-winning action RPG, but is a passionate fan of the title.
Speaking with IGN about Elden Ring briefly during an interview about the imminent 28 Years Later film he helped write and produce, Garland revealed he's in the middle of his seventh playthrough of the game. He also says that the Starscourge Radahn boss is an easy fight, and that Malenia, Blade of Miquella is "the tough one." Nobody tell him about the last boss in Shadow of the Erdtree.
"Ooh, Radahn's really easy. I thought Radahn was quite easy because as long as you sort of activated the people who can assist you in that fight, they get on with fighting him, and they take off whatever it is, half his energy, and you finish him off," he commented. "It's all about activating those little summon signs dotted around. No, it's Malenia who's the tough one."
"I'm now on my seventh playthrough of that game," Garland continued. "I've leveled up, I've got lots of juice, and a cool sword, and stuff like that, and I just throw myself at them again, and again, and again, and again."
That strategy, Garland says, is something he learned from Dark Souls — FromSoftware's trilogy of action RPGs that popularized the studio's difficult, stamina-driven "Soulsborne" gameplay style first introduced with Demon's Souls in 2009.
"That was the technique I learned with Dark Souls," he went on to explain. “It's not that you get better, it's more like monkeys and typewriters. You just keep doing it, and eventually, one day, they're dead.”
Speaking as a longtime Soulsborne veteran, I can't say I agree; paying careful attention to boss attacks and mastering fights over the course of several attempts is key to what makes FromSoftware's games work, and I firmly believe you'll "get better" with each try — consciously aware of the improvement or not.
But, I get it. I understand that feeling of repeatedly bashing your head against a progress-blocking wall presented by a difficult boss until you eventually bust it down in glorious victory, and every other FromSoftware fan can relate, too. And a director having a relatable perspective on the game they're adapting is, frankly, a breath of fresh air.
In the last several years, it feels like it's become increasingly common to hear that the leads behind projects like this one have — intentionally or otherwise — never seen or engaged with the source material. To say that doesn't inspire confidence is an understatement, especially when it comes to video games where the interactive experience and how it makes you feel is at the heart of what makes them special.
Garland's seven playthroughs with Elden Ring are quite reassuring with that context in mind. And while a pessimistic side of me did wonder if he was coached to give a response like this — he notably didn't use a single piece of actual Elden Ring terminology in these responses — I realized he actually spoke about his love of Dark Souls five years ago before Elden Ring existed.
Ironically, at the time, he said "I can't imagine how you'd do a Dark Souls film or TV adaptation," and here in 2025, I can't, either. How the Elden Ring movie is even going to work is still a complete mystery, but given Garland's glowing filmography and passion for FromSoftware's games, I'm choosing to be optimistic about it.
And hey, if it's bad? Elden Ring and its new co-op roguelike spinoff Elden Ring Nightreign aren't going anywhere. In fact, the former is just $39.39 at CDKeys right now, with the latter coming in at $35.99 at CDKeys.
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