Hideo Kojima Reveals That He Stopped ‘Death Stranding’ Movie Director Michael Sarnoski From Playing ‘Metal Gear Solid 2′

Hideo Kojima opened up about the Death Stranding film and explained why it’s going to be an “unbelievable” experience. However, while talking about why he’s excited for the project, he also revealed that he had to stop the live-action adaptation’s director from playing Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.

Kojima Believes ‘Death Stranding’ Director is not a typical Hollywood Guy

The Death Stranding movie was first teased back in 2022 by Hideo Kojima. However, we got our first major update on the project on April 7, when A24 announced that the live-action adaptation would be directed by A Quiet Place: Day One‘s Michael Sarnoski. Excitingly, the film is also being produced by Hereditary and Midsommar‘s Ari Aster. Hideo Kojima reacted to the director announcement during the KOJIMA RADIO show on TBS RADIO.

Here’s an excerpt translated by @Genki_JPN on Twitter: “Hideo Kojima says the Death Stranding live-action film with A24 will be an unbelievable and strange film! He says Director Michael Sarnoski is smart, has good taste, and is a very nice person. So he is happy he can direct the film. He also said Michael properly played Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid 1, and was going to play MGS2 and MGS3 as well, but Hideo Kojima stopped him. Hideo Kojima concluded, stating that he doesn’t seem like a typical Hollywood person.”

So, it appears that Michael Sarnoski has made a real effort to play Death Stranding. He even dipped his toes into Kojima’s other works, such as Metal Gear Solid. I just love the idea that Kojima stopped the director from playing Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, though. Like playing the first one was more than enough. I mean, in fairness, those games can get a little dense, thematically speaking. But they’re all incredible masterpieces!

What We Know So Far About the Film

So, as I said earlier, the Death Stranding film first began development back in 2022. It’s being produced by the critically acclaimed indie studio A24. However, we also have a few tidbits of rumored information that might give us an idea of what to expect. For example, one of the voice actors who worked on Death Stranding suggested that the movie would feature an entirely new cast of characters and story.

The actor was quick to delete the social media post, though. So, it’s unclear whether this was just speculation or something they actually knew about the film. Deadline also shared new details about the adaptation: “The film will delve into the mysteries surrounding the Death Stranding – a catastrophic series of events that blurred the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead, bringing forth nightmarish creatures into a fragmented world on the brink of collapse.”

What’s intriguing about this project is that we’ve received two seemingly conflicting reports about what it could be. We may receive an original story with a new cast of characters. On the other hand, it could be a faithful adaptation of the game. What I want to know the most, though, is: why did Kojima stop Michael Sarnoski from playing Metal Gear Solid 2? Was he that ashamed of Raiden? All jokes aside, it seems that Hideo Kojima really likes the Death Stranding film’s director and believes he can capture the “strange” story of the 2019 game.