The Ghost of Tsushima, Jin Sakai, will be repelling the Mongol forces once again, but this time on the big screen! Yesterday on the official PlayStation Blog, Nate Fox (Game Director at Sucker Punch studio) announced that they will be collaborating with Sony Pictures to turn the game into a feature film. The Blog post says:
“A Ghost of Tsushima movie is in the works! The idea of translating our game into a new medium is exciting, and we’re intrigued by the possibilities. We’ve all been brought to tears in a movie theater surrounded by strangers. (Thanks a lot, E.T.) We’ve all gone to a movie on opening night when the crowd is so excited that they cheer as the lights go down. It’s a group experience that isn’t replicated anywhere else. To think that we could sit in the theater someday watching Jin Sakai up on the big screen is amazing. We’d all relive his tense transformation into the Ghost from a whole new vantage point.
We are happy to partner with Sony Pictures to make this happen. And Jin is in very good hands with the film’s director. Chad Stahelski created something special with John Wick. His vision for what could be, backed up by years of experience, combined to create some of the finest action scenes ever created. If anyone could bring to life the razor-sharp tension of Jin’s katana combat, it’s Chad Stahelski.”
This is awesome news and makes sense given the recent efforts to make more PlayStation properties into films. Tom Holland has already finished filming the Uncharted film (based on the Naughty Dog studios game) and Neil Druckmann is working with Chernobyl‘s director, Johan Renck, on a miniseries based on The Last Of US. Given all the focus on making PlayStation first-party games into films and shows one can only hope that they will be high quality content.
Cinematic cutscene? No. This is an in-game in-engine screenshot. Image from InsideTheBox.
What Does This Mean For the Film?
At first it seems like recruiting the director of the John Wick films was a stylistic choice based off the brutality and the fight choreography, and no doubt that is something to look forward to in Ghost of Tsushima. But why the director choice makes even more sense is that the John Wick films are very aesthetic films. Lighting, shadow, framing, and wide shots are what make those films such a treat to watch. Every dramatic moment is punctuated by a great scene for the audience. All the action is presented in a “clean” and well framed shot, unlike some movies (*cough* Transformers *cough*) that are way too up-close to obscure the action and confuse the audience about what is going on.
Keanu Reeves, center, fends off attackers in “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”. This is a really well lit and artsy shot. Image from MercuryNews.
Ghost of Tsushima has great swordplay and combat mechanics, but the game’s greatest strength is it’s art style, in-game physics, and beautiful scenery. Riding on horseback through a field of tall grass and seeing the wind send ripples through the field and dance in the sunlight is a very common sight in the game. Bamboo forest thickets with scenic fog and beams of light piercing through here and there. All of those things are as much as a character in the game as Jin Sakai himself is. I fully trust in SuckerPunch studios and Sony in selecting Stahelski as the director to helm the project. He will bring amazing swordplay, photography, and style to the film, all three of which are the same strengths as the game. I can’t wait to see it!
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