The Road to A24’s ‘Elden Ring’ Movie Runs Longer Than Anyone Expected

The story of how ‘Elden Ring’ landed at A24 starts with a director who simply loved the game. Alex Garland privately shared his experience playing Elden Ring with A24’s head of film, Noah Sacco, which impressed him enough to support pursuing an adaptation. It is the kind of origin story that feels fitting for a project now carrying so much weight.

The film adapts the FromSoftware game that arrived in 2022. That game was created under Hidetaka Miyazaki’s guidance and built on a story by George R. R. Martin. Few video game adaptations come with source material that famous, or that cryptic, which makes the challenge of translating it to the screen all the more intriguing.

Now, a new detail is fueling fresh talk about just how big this thing will be. Cinema Now reported on X that the live-action film reportedly has a runtime of nearly 3 hours. The post also claims it would be the second-longest film in A24’s history, and the most expensive the studio has ever made.

Some caution is warranted here. No runtime has been confirmed, and the figure is an inference from page count rather than anything A24 has said. According to an exclusive Deadline report published on Oct. 27, the script spans at least 180 pages, including visuals, suggesting the film could approach the 3-hour mark.

The “second-longest” claim holds up against what is currently known about the studio’s slate. The rumored length would still fall just short of A24’s ‘The Brutalist,’ which runs a whopping 3.5 hours. That would leave ‘Elden Ring’ in an unusual position as a blockbuster-scale fantasy epic sitting behind only an awards-season drama in the studio’s runtime rankings.

The price tag is just as eye-catching. The budget is estimated at between $175 million and $200 million, which would make it A24’s most expensive production to date. According to The Wall Street Journal, the production budget is nearly $200 million.

A24 is also putting serious effort into protecting what is on those pages. The studio is reportedly booking flights for staffers to potential international rights-buyers instead of sending the script digitally, so that an A24 staffer is in the room while it is read. Certain sections have reportedly been withheld to prevent spoilers.

There is a business angle to all this secrecy, too. Amazon MGM Studios has secured international pay-1 streaming rights in a deal reportedly valued in the tens of millions of dollars. A24 is fully financing the film, so the market push is partly about sharing the risk.

The cast gives fans plenty to look forward to as well. Garland’s adaptation stars Kit Connor, Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, and Nick Offerman. The report also mentions that Connor plays the protagonist, whose journey includes battles with monsters and dragons.

Production is already well down the road. Filming wrapped in July. Industrial Light & Magic is now working on post-production efforts ahead of the film’s March 2028 release.

The next big checkpoint arrives soon. Deadline reports the film is heading to next month’s American Film Market in Los Angeles, and a first look at footage there is likely to be the next real signal of how it is shaping up. If the early numbers hold, audiences will be settling in for a long stay in the Lands Between when the film opens.

It arrives in theaters and IMAX on March 3, 2028. Until then, fans will have to keep guessing whether the final cut truly lands near the 3-hour mark.