A24's Elden Ring movie reportedly costs nearly $200 million

A24 is reportedly spending close to $200 million on its Elden Ring movie. That would make it the most expensive film the studio has ever made, by a wide margin. The figure comes from a Wall Street Journal report published on Oct. 23, which Eurogamer and Polygon both picked up. It rests on unnamed sources, so treat it as a reported number rather than a confirmed one. Neither A24 nor the game's publisher has said anything official about the budget.

How big a jump is this?

Quite big. Eurogamer says earlier reporting in April put the budget at "well over" $100 million, so the estimate has climbed since then. For comparison, the same outlet notes that A24's previous priciest film, Marty Supreme, reportedly cost around $70 million, and Alex Garland's Civil War about $50 million. By those numbers, Elden Ring costs roughly three times the studio's old record.

Polygon reads it as A24's first true blockbuster. It also reports that the studio is valued at more than $3.5 billion and is looking for ways to stay independent while it grows. Per Polygon, the WSJ piece is mostly about that rise, with Backrooms and You Can See Everything named as this year's hits. Elden Ring is a side note in a bigger story about A24's clout in Hollywood.

What we know about the film

Garland is writing and directing. Eurogamer says it is being shot for IMAX and is due in cinemas on March 3, 2028. The reported cast includes Kit Connor, Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce and Nick Offerman, though their roles haven't been announced and plot details are still under wraps. Eurogamer also describes the film as at least partly a prequel to the game.

The source material is FromSoftware's open-world action RPG, which launched in February 2022 with lore written by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. Polygon points out that 2028 is getting crowded with game adaptations, with a Helldivers film from Sony Pictures and a Call of Duty film from Skydance also expected that year.

Our take

This is analysis, not reporting. A bigger budget doesn't make a better movie, and Garland's films have tended to be strange and small-scale rather than loud. Putting that kind of director on a $200 million fantasy epic is a real gamble, and it's the part we'll be watching. Game adaptations have mostly aimed at crowd-pleasing, so one that goes after awards, as Polygon suggests it might, would be a first. We haven't seen a frame of footage, though, so for now it's all numbers and cast lists.