It’s no secret that Hideo Kojima is a cinephile. He constantly posts his thoughts about the latest films over on social media, Metal Gear Solid cutscenes are sometimes infamous for how long and indulgent they can be, and the cast list of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is stuffed with notable Hollywood names. But the famed game director was apparently convinced to not pursue filmmaking by none other than Guillermo del Toro.
Kojima said as much in the latest issue of Edge Magazine – out now – where he recalled a chat he had with Nicolas Winding Refn (director of Drive and an actor in Death Stranding 2) and Guillermo del Toro (renowned for classics like Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth, and, also, Heartman in Death Stranding.)
“I am reevaluating my priorities about what I should do,” Kojima told Edge, recalling that the meeting he had with the two filmmakers turned into a talk “about how much time we have left to create” in life. “I have always harboured an ambition to direct a film, and falling ill made me think: if I wanted to make a film, I would have to do so in my 60s, which will be so physically tough to do.”
That’s when del Toro apparently told Kojima to rethink his film ambitions. “‘You don’t have to do live action films. What you’re doing now [in games] is like a live-action film. Don’t do this old-media thing of going into filmmaking – just do what you’ve been doing.'”
“But I’m always thinking about the next ten years,” Kojima added. “Because this is comparatively a small company, unlike other corporations in this industry like Sega or Nintendo, I must tell the staff where we are headed in the next ten years.”
Kojima will at least partially be involved in A24’s upcoming Death Stranding film, and his odd horror game OD also has a stacked list of Hollywood collaborators, including Jordan Peele, so I wouldn’t feel too sorry for the guy.
