In an interview with Comic Book Movie promoting John Wick: Chapter Four, director Chad Stahelski provided a brief update on the film adaptation of Ghost of Tsushima he’s currently working on. Asked about the development of the film, Stahelski stated,

“That’s something we’re in heavy development on. I love the property, like, look, the game story of Jin Sakai, and it being what I would say is, quote, the most anti-samurai samurai movie out there because of the storylines. thematics in it, and the journey that Jin Sakai goes through from his transition to or his choices of who to become and what the people need him to become and what he honorbound should and is what needs to become is so interesting to me, like the story is definitely, the characters in the story are definitely something I don’t want to lose in any way.”

The update from Stahelski provides welcome news for fans anticipating any news regarding the film adaptation of the beloved Sucker Punch Productions game. Released in 2020, Ghost of Tsushima was critically acclaimed for its captivating story of Jin Sakai, a samurai who battled his identity and rebelling against codes of honor. Ghost of Tsushima heavily inspired its narrative and art style from that of legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, who became known for the “Kurosawa Style.” Developers of Ghost of Tsushima were open about their inspiration of the director, and even provided a “Kurosawa Mode,” an optional graphical setting that changed the filter to a black and white grainy look that resembled a Kurosawa film. 

Stahelski was apt to note in retaining Ghost of Tsushima’s aesthetic, even opening the possibility of extended media outside a full-length feature film.

“It’s just the visuals I want to keep. It’s just how do I pack that much information into a feature that can go on to other features or a TV project or platform for that. The trick is not do we have great material, we know we have great material. It’s how to make it palpable in any platform, you know, how do we make a great two, two and a half hour movie out of this? Make it satisfying and leave it open to expand further from there, like that’s the real challenge is how to take so much great and get it down to a watchable level.”

First announced from Sony in 2021, the Ghost of Tsushima film came to no surprise as Sony has been putting forth numerous of their IP’s towards the medium of film and television. Earlier this year, Naughty Dog’s, The Last of Us made its television debut on HBO and already has a second season in the works. Gran Turismo recently debuted its own trailer for the upcoming 2023 film. There’s also an Amazon TV show adaptation of the God of War franchise, and a Netflix series being made of Horizon Zero Dawn.