FromSoftware has come a long way from its cult classic first “Soulslike” action-RPG title, Demon’s Souls. Through the <em>Dark Souls</em> series, the developer became one of the most surprisingly influential in modern gaming, sparking conversations about the nature of difficulty in games with its more obtuse and punishing approach and atmospheric dark fantasy world. <em>Elden Ring</em>, however, was seen as the full realization of their abilities under Hidetaka Miyazaki, winning Game of the Year, becoming by far the company’s best-selling game, and attracting a much wider audience to their catalog. Noted superfan of the game and Ex Machina helmer Alex Garland is now spearheading a film adaptation due out in 2028, which will be by far A24’s most expensive production ever with a budget over $200 million.
However, he’s not the only one busy expanding the worlds of FromSoft to other mediums. Seán McLoughlin, better known as Jacksepticeye, was announced to be producing an R-rated animated movie based on the gothic, Lovecraftian Bloodborne at CinemaCon. The news of a return to Yharnam came as a shock, considering Sony hadn’t done much with the game since its release on the PlayStation 4 back in 2015, despite it remaining a fan favorite to this day. Few details were shared at the time, with no writer or director formally attached to the project. However, while development has mostly remained in the dark, McLoughlin recently confirmed that things have moved along smoothly since the news first broke.
The YouTube star spoke to IGN ahead of his arrival as the latest elusive target in the video game Hitman: World of Assassination and shared a progress update on the film. For the most part, mapping out the story has been the focus, but he revealed that a writer and director are now on board to make things happen. Moreover, he’s hopeful that announcements aren’t far off and that he’ll soon be freed to speak a bit more candidly about the madness that will unfold in his vision of the game.
“Things are obviously much more along the pipeline than they were back then. It’s one of those things that I personally would love to just say everything as a fan of this thing, but then there’s no expectation, or there’s no fun in the process. So we definitely have a lot more stuff mapped out where we’re going with the story, and there are people in place to make this thing happen. Hopefully sooner than later, we can have announcements where we talk about who’s involved and where it’s going, and little teases of the story and where we’re at with that.”
03
Which horror movie rule would you break first?
Everybody thinks they would survive. Almost nobody actually does.
04
Something genuinely frightening happens. What do you do?
Not in a film. In your actual living room, tonight.
Taking onBloodborne, especially as a huge fan, is no small feat. McLoughlin hasn’t been shy about his love of the game, even getting a tattoo of the Hunter’s Mark. Yet, so far, he told IGN that “I am proud of the work I’ve been doing on it” and expressed confidence in what’s being developed as he tries to ensure the film is accurate to the feel of the modern classic.
“I think it’s such an interesting job to have, and for me, it’s fun to do. It can be really stressful as well at the same time because you’re taking on such a monumental IP. And I am just there to be like, ‘Hey, we need this pinprick perfect.’ Will we ever get something perfect? I don’t know. It’s probably impossible to get everyone’s expectations into one central pillar, but as someone who’s brought on to do this job, I’m right in the position where I need to be, and we’re poised to have something really cool.”
McLoughlin is also taking a much different approach than Garland is toElden Ring. Personally, he feels that FromSoft’s work is better suited for animation because of how otherworldly the games can be and the sheer scale needed to capture every important detail. “I think Bloodborne specifically is poised to do that well,because there’s so many otherworldly aspects in that that would just be so cool to be able to blow the doors off animated rather than being like, ‘Okay, put you in front of a green screen, and let’s hope for the best,” he continued. “Now we can really whittle it down into something cool.”
Even withElden Ring likely to release before his film is done, the differences between the two projects—from the games they’re adapting to live-action and animation approaches—are so vast that he doesn’t anticipate taking too much from Garland’s work. He’s more interested inZach Cregger’sResident Evil as a comparison since he’s aiming to explore the world ofBloodborne with a new story rather than just retreading the player’s journey through Night of the Hunt.
“I don’t want to adapt something if we’re just going to tell the same stories with same characters over and over again. Movies are a completely different medium than video games. What do movies do better than a game does? It’s passive versus interactive so how do we push and pull with that and play with different ideas? I think I don’t want to be involved in an adaptation if it doesn’t feel like there’s a story worth telling within it or if it’s not a good idea.”
Stay tuned here at Collider for more onBloodborne as McLoughlin and team continue development.
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