Posted in: Games, Movies, Sony | Tagged: arrowhead games studios, helldivers 2, sony pictures

Helldivers 2 Creative Director On The Studio's Involvement In The Film

Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt says the studio shouldn't have the "final say" over the film because "we are not Hollywood people."

Last week, CES and Sony did a presentation where they decided to throw everyone in the entertainment industry for a loop and drop a ton of TV and film information during its press conference. We got information on things like the next season of The Last of Us,  got some more story details about the Until Dawn film, and Sony revealed two more video game adaptations were in the works. Horizon Zero Dawn isn't that much of a surprise, but Helldivers 2 is, considering the game is only a year old. Hollywood has only just started to get video game adaptations right in the last couple of years, so fans are a bit twitchy when it comes to their favorite game getting a movie. Over on X/Twitter (via Total Film), a fan asked creative director Johan Pilestedt if Arrowhead Games Studios will be involved with the film to "ensure the films stay faithful to the games?" It sounds like details might still be getting ironed out because he wasn't sure, but Pilestedt also admitted that they aren't filmmakers and shouldn't have the final say.

"Hey! I've been dodging this question. The short answer is yes. The long answer is that we'll see. We are not Hollywood people, and we don't know what it takes to make a movie. And therefore we don't, and shouldn't, have final say."

That answer is probably going to piss fans off, and if the response under the tweet is anything to go by, people aren't exactly thrilled to hear that, but that's the correct answer. Pilestedt is right; a video game is not a movie. They are two very different mediums, and there are specific challenges that come from adapting video games because you are going from an interactive medium to an inactive medium. You already don't read a comic book like you read a book. You don't watch a TV show like you watch a movie [despite what Netflix and other streamers might think, TV shows are not long movies], and where things tend to go wrong is when people don't consider adaptation part of this whole thing. Sony has seen success with Uncharted, and they have watched both Paramount and Universal do well with Sonic and Mario, so it stands to reason that Arrowhead will be involved on some level, but they shouldn't have the final say even if that isn't the answer what fans want to hear.

The Helldivers 2 Film Adaptation Got Here Fast

Helldivers 2, adapted by Sony Pictures and Sony Playstation, is one of those fast turnarounds that might make people a little nervous. The game was released just over a year ago, in February 2024, on PlayStation 5 and Windows. It became the topic of conversation last year when Sony tried to get everyone to sign up for a Playstation account to play the game, even though that wasn't a requirement initially. The problem was that in some countries where the game was available, you couldn't sign up for a Sony account, and now these people couldn't play the game. What followed was a massive review bombing from the community,y with players essentially telling Sony, the publisher, and Arrowhead Games Studios, the developer, that if they can't play with all of their friends, they won't play at all. It worked, and Sony walked the requirement back. We love to see it. From IGN: "Asad Qizilbash, head of PlayStation Productions, said: "Looking ahead as to what might come next, I'm excited to announce we are working with Sony Pictures on developing a film adaptation of our amazingly popular PlayStation game Helldivers 2."

From the official Steam page: "HELLDIVERS™ 2 is a 3rd person squad-based shooter that sees the elite forces of the Helldivers battling to win an intergalactic struggle to rid the galaxy of the rising alien threats. From a 3rd person perspective, players use a variety of weapons (pistols, machine guns, flamethrowers) and stratagems (turrets, airstrikes, etc.) to shoot and kill the alien threats. Players can also aim down the sights for a more accurate 1st person camera view. Combat is accompanied by frequent sprays of blood and dismemberment as players exterminate the alien forces or players and squad mates are hit by environmental explosions or friendly fire. Enemy encampments and battlefield environments depict bloodstains and dismembered corpses."

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