Elden Ring Movie Could Near Three Hours, Report Says

The Elden Ring film may be headed for a seriously lengthy journey through the Lands Between. The adaptation’s screenplay, written and directed by Alex Garland, reportedly extends to at least 180 pages including visuals, a figure that suggests the finished feature could approach three hours if its current form broadly carries through production.

That is not a confirmed runtime, and it is worth treating it as an indication rather than a final number. Films are edited substantially after a screenplay is completed, while page counts do not translate perfectly into screen time—especially when a script incorporates visual material. Still, the reported length signals ambitions that fit the scale of FromSoftware’s fantasy game: a protagonist’s journey, battles with monsters and dragons, and a world seemingly large enough to resist a hurried two-hour tour.

Kit Connor is said to play the film’s protagonist. Beyond that basic premise, story specifics remain tightly held. The project has wrapped filming and is currently scheduled to open in theaters on March 3, 2028.

A long script is a clue, not a stopwatch

People often use the rough guideline of one screenplay page equaling one minute of finished film. It can be a helpful shorthand, but it is not a hard rule. A screenplay page full of dialogue may play differently from a page detailing a creature encounter, a wordless journey through an environment, or a dense action sequence. The reported inclusion of visuals makes any direct page-to-minute conversion even less certain.

Editing also changes the equation. Scenes can be shortened, reordered, merged or removed. Conversely, visual sequences may need room to breathe in the finished movie. Therefore, “at least 180 pages” should not be read as a promise of exactly 180 minutes. It does make a film approaching the three-hour mark plausible, however.

For Elden Ring, a bigger question is what the time would be used for. The game’s appeal is not simply its enemy roster or colossal bosses. Its setting is built around mystery, discovery and the player’s gradual assembly of meaning from fragmented encounters. A feature film cannot reproduce the act of exploration in the same way a game can, but a generous runtime could give Garland space to establish a character’s purpose, convey the dangers surrounding that character and make major confrontations feel consequential rather than like a checklist of recognizable creatures.

The report describes the adaptation as faithful and says Connor’s character will face impressive monsters and dragons. That wording establishes the broad shape of an adventure but leaves the central creative choices unanswered: who this protagonist is, how closely the narrative follows the game’s lore, and which parts of its enormous world have made the transition to screen.

Why Elden Ring is a particularly difficult game to adapt

“Faithful” can mean different things with a game as open-ended and interpretive as Elden Ring. Faithfulness does not necessarily require a scene-by-scene retelling. The game is known for allowing players to move through its world and encounters at their own pace, while much of its narrative texture comes through details that players uncover themselves.

A film, by contrast, needs a fixed path. It must decide whose perspective guides the audience, what information is essential, and when major revelations arrive. The reported focus on a single protagonist suggests one way the movie may give itself that structure. A defined lead can turn a vast, player-driven fantasy setting into a cinematic journey with a clear emotional anchor.

The potential benefit of a near-three-hour runtime is that it may reduce the pressure to explain every element immediately. If the film has time to let environments, creatures and quiet stretches of travel do storytelling work, it could preserve some of the game’s atmosphere without assuming that viewers need an encyclopedia of lore before each battle. The risk is equally plain: a long runtime raises expectations that every extended passage earns its place.

It also places emphasis on balance. Spectacle matters in an Elden Ring adaptation, particularly if dragons and huge monsters are part of the film’s stated plan. But the monsters have to be more than visual punctuation. In a story centered on a journey, major clashes ideally advance the protagonist’s goals, reveal something about the world, or change the stakes. Otherwise, even striking action can begin to feel detached from the narrative.

A24’s biggest reported financial commitment

The scale extends beyond the screenplay. The film is reported to have a budget between $175 million and $200 million, closer to the higher figure, making it A24’s most expensive production to date. A24 fully financed the movie, and the reported budget helps explain why international distribution arrangements are becoming a central part of the project’s business story.

Amazon MGM Studios has reportedly acquired a group of international pay-one streaming rights. Pay-one refers to the first subscription-streaming window following a film’s earlier release windows. In practical terms, it concerns where audiences in covered international markets could eventually find the movie via a subscription service after its theatrical and other initial distribution stages. It does not alter the currently stated theatrical opening date.

The deal is said to cover many international markets and to be worth tens of millions of dollars. For a production with such a large reported cost, selling rights in advance can help limit financial exposure while allowing the studio to maintain a major theatrical plan. International buyers are reportedly being allowed to read the script under staff supervision, a restrictive process that underscores how carefully the project’s story is being protected.

Amazon’s involvement may potentially reach beyond distribution. There is also talk of possible activity connected to Twitch, Amazon’s streaming platform. Nothing specific has been detailed, so fans should not assume a particular campaign, event or feature is locked in. But the possibility makes sense as a point of interest: Elden Ring originated as a game with a large online audience, and Twitch could offer a route to audience engagement around the film if plans develop.

Footage may be the next meaningful reveal

The movie is expected to be presented to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market, with a possibility that attendees could see the first footage. That would be a significant next step because it could offer the earliest real indication of the movie’s visual language: how its fantasy environments have been realized, the scale of its creatures, and the tone of Garland’s approach.

Until footage or official materials are released publicly, caution is appropriate. Set photos appeared online before filming wrapped in July, but isolated production images are not a reliable substitute for knowing how a completed movie will look or function. A presentation for potential buyers likewise would not necessarily mean an immediate public trailer.

The cast around Connor is extensive, including Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Nick Offerman and Peter Serafinowicz. Their roles have not been detailed in the available information. That ensemble gives the film a wide bench of performers, but it does not yet reveal how the adaptation will divide its attention between the protagonist’s individual quest and the people encountered along the way.

What a three-hour Elden Ring would need to justify

Length is neither an automatic strength nor an automatic problem. A nearly three-hour Elden Ring film would be judged on whether its duration creates a fuller world and stronger journey—not merely a larger volume of imagery. The reported screenplay length suggests that the creative team sees the property as a large-format fantasy story rather than a compact adaptation designed to race from reference to reference.

For players, the most encouraging implication may be the apparent willingness to give the material room. Elden Ring is not a setting that naturally feels small, and a short feature could face difficult choices about what to omit. A longer film can accommodate a gradual escalation from personal peril to monster and dragon encounters, provided it has a coherent dramatic throughline.

For viewers unfamiliar with the game, clarity will be just as important as scale. The film cannot rely exclusively on recognition of names, visual motifs or enemy designs. Its protagonist’s motivations and the stakes of the journey have to work on their own terms. That is the central adaptation challenge: retaining an enigmatic fantasy identity while making the story understandable and compelling to people who have never held a controller.

The project is still well ahead of release, and its apparent runtime remains unconfirmed. Yet the combination of a lengthy reported screenplay, a major budget, a theatrical date, and a cast led by Connor points to an adaptation built as an event-sized fantasy film. For more on another game-related project with a huge reported footprint, see our coverage of Grand Theft Auto VI’s reported PS5 download size.

For Elden Ring, the next concrete evidence will matter more than a page count: official footage, a clearer outline of Connor’s character and confirmation of the final cut’s runtime. For now, the prospect of a movie close to three hours suggests a production trying to meet an enormous game world at something closer to its natural scale.