To celebrate our 3rd anniversary, all members-only content debuting this week is free for one week! New members can also join for just $0.99/month for their first 3 months (save $15!) with code THREEYEARSOFPV.

Popverse's top stories of the day

• Warner Bros. misses the days when we bought DVDs and Blu-Rays, and says streaming is just not the same
• MEMBERS ONLY: If It Bleeds, We Read: How the Hunger Games' Sunrise on the Reaping makes revolutionary ideas legible for YA readers
• WATCH NOW: Remember the fantastical & the failures of SEGA's Dreamcast

Despite Elden Ring's deep, dark, rich lore (partially developed by none other than George R.R. Martin), the thing the franchise is arguably most known for is the difficulty it presents its players with. So, as A24 was working on finding someone to helm their upcoming film adaptation of the games, it makes sense that they'd be seeking out a person who understood challenging, edge-of-your-seat entertainment. It also makes sense, then, that they'd pick someone who's already provided that for them before: Warfare and Civil War director Alex Garland.

The story comes from Deadline, who reported news of Garland's involvement on May 22. Along with the reporting, Deadline lists off the previous projects Garland has teamed with A24 on, all of which serve the double purpose of proving the director to know his way around intense, emotional storytelling. Ex Machina, Men, and Civil War are all among Garland's credentials, capped off by the white-knuckle military thriller Warfare.

We should note that also part of Garland's long IMDb page are several previous experiences with other video game franchises - Garland was once attached to write a Halo script, and has served in a creative capacity for the games Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and DmC: Devil May Cry, respectively.

And finally, it's going to sound like we're beating a dead horse when we note that Garland is extensively experienced in the horror genre, which features heavily in the dark, fantastical lore of the Elden Ring franchise. Garland got into filmmaking by penning the script for Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later in 2002, a saga he has stuck with ever since, with his name in the credits for the upcoming 28 Years Later and 28 Years Later: the Bone Temple.

Honestly, I think that, at this point, it would have been surprising had Garland (or at least someone very like him) not gotten the job of helming the Elden Ring movie, and though we haven't checked, we expect this news to be something the game's most devoted fans are celebrating today.

Because gamers are famous for having calm, uniform opinions, right?

No word yet on when A24 and Alex Garland's Elden Ring will slash its way into theaters.

You don't need to beat the game to prepare for the next one—here are all the major new and upcoming games coming our way.