Bow fellow Tarnished, for there’s a certified gamer amongst us. Alex Garland, the director at the helm of A24’s Elden Ring live-action film, recently shined a light on his experiences playing FromSoftware’s smash-hit. While the 55-year-old shied away from providing details on the adaptation itself, he revealed that he’s currently on his seventh playthrough of the game and also shared his pick for the hardest boss.
His comments emerged as part of an interview clip shared by IGN. In it, the director behind Warfare and Ex Machina was asked about his opinion on the toughest boss encounter. Unsurprisingly, he replied with Malenia, but not before putting Radahn in his place. Garland stated that the demigod fight was “really easy, as long as you activated the people who can assist you in the fight.” He went on to add that, “it’s all about activating those little summon signs dotted around.”
Garland reiterated that he’s on his seventh Elden Ring playthrough, a tidbit he previously shared during a Reddit AMA. He also referred to the Flask of Crimson Tears as ‘juice,’ which should honestly be the canon term, and revealed his dogged approach to the difficulty of soulslikes.
“I just throw myself at them again and again and again and again. That was the technique I learned with Dark Souls.” He summed up the tenacious playstyle: “It’s more like monkeys and typewriters. You just keep doing, and eventually, one day, they’re dead.”
Interesting analogy aside, it’s clear that the Oscar-nominated director has a deep appreciation for the game. This bodes well for the live-action adaptation, as recreating that distinct sense of discovery and awe imbued in every frame of Elden Ring is a herculean task, to say the least.
We’ve seen many video game adaptations fail to capture their IPs’ essence, with elements that made the game so endearing in the first place being lost in the live-action transition. In many cases, this boils down to a limited or hollow understanding of the source material, for example, that godawful Borderlands movie and Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us (yeah, I said it).
Following Garland’s comments, we can safely tick that prerequisite off the list. And given his stellar filmography, I’d say fans have plenty of reason to be optimistic about A24’s Elden Ring.
With that being said, what are your expectations for the movie? Are you hoping to see a specific character? Let us know in the comments below.
