There’s no developerquite as innovative and imaginativeas Hideo Kojima in the gaming industry. And as you might know, he’s also a cinephile who not only claims “70 percent of his body is made of movies” but carries the juice to casually get some of his most inspirational and aspirational film directors to be involved with his games.
Hideo Kojima has watched more movies and shows than you can count and befriended his fair share of legendary filmmakers over a three-decade-long game development career. This equipped him with plenty of ideas, so here are some of the directors he’s been associated with.
Movies And TV Shows Directed
2009-2011
Funny or Die Presents… (5 Episodes)
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2017
You’re The Worst (Episodes in Seasons 1 and 5)
2014, 2019
Filmmaker Jordan Vogt-Roberts is the model for theDeath Stranding prepper aptly named “The Film Director.“He credits Kojima as one of his major influences and is an immense fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, even signing up to helm the film adaptation yet to be released.
Most notably, he directed Sundance Film Festival indieThe Kings of Summerand the debut entry in WB’s Godzilla and King Kong shared MonsterVerse,Kong: Skull Island, where he even included an Easter egg nod to Metal Gear Solid’s Gray Fox.
Vogt-Roberts has also branched into comedy, directing Nick Offerman’s standup special American Ham, as well as episodes of Funny or Die Presents…, Death Valley, and FX’s You’re the Worst.
2007
2009
Kurt Josef Wagle and the Legend of the Fjord Witch
2010
2021
Violent Night
2022
Tommy Wirkola is a film director from Norway, and he has quite a filmography. He started by parodying Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill in a picture called Kill Buljo: The Movie, but then his craft would later evolve into Hollywood blockbustersHansel & Gretel: Witch Hunterswith Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton and the David Harbour-ledViolent Night.
Wirkola also directed the Netflix films What Happened to Monday and The Trip, both starring Noomi Rapace, but he’s probably most famous for hiscult Norwegian Nazi zombie film series Dead Snow.
Hideo Kojima honored Wirkolawith a cameo in Death Strandingasa Bridges porter who’s Head of Distributionfor the location North of Mountain Knot City.
1995
1996
Mash and Peas (Show Director)
1998
1999
Spaced (Show Director)
1999-2001
The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End)
2004-2013
The Sparks Brothers
What The Hell Is It This Time? Sparks Live In London
Las Night in Soho
Edgar Wright is a filmmaker in the genres of comedy and horror and is well-known for hislong-standing friendship with fellow actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Though you may know of their collaboration in the trio of films starting with Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright first directed them in the ’90s shows Asylum and Spaced.
In addition to his projects with Pegg and Frost, Wright helmed the comic book adaptationScott Pilgrim vs. The World, the music-fueled heist movieBaby Driver, and the time-bending horror filmLast Night in Sohowith Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith.
As he so brilliantly put it when signing his name on Kojima’s board, he will “live forever” in Death Stranding as Thomas Southerland, theBridges Distribution head in South of Lake Knot City.
1996, 2004, 2005
2003
2008, 2009
2008
2016
2019
Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus
2023
Danish film director Nicolas Winding Refn is someone Kojima often refers to as a “bestie” and they definitelyhave a partnership that’s spawned more of a bromance.
Kojima featured his likeness as the Death Stranding characterHeartman, and Winding Refn, in return, had Kojima make a cameo in the finale of his Netflix series Copenhagen Cowboy.
Probably the film he’s most well known for is the 2011 thriller Drive with Ryan Gosling as a stuntman getaway driver. It’s also no coincidence that Kojima sought the talents ofMads MikkelsenandElle Fanningfor Death Stranding and DS2: On the Beach.
Mads starred in the first two Pusher moviesdirected by Nicolas Winding Refn, and Elle Fanning played the lead role of Jesse in Refn’s 2016 horror filmThe Neon Demon.
Hora marcada (3 Episodes)
1988
1992
1997
2001
2002
2004
2006
2014-2017
2016-2018
2018-2019
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Show Creator)
Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro is one of themost visionary sci-fi fantasy-horror filmmakers, whose original monsters, phantoms, and grotesque villains have graced films like Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, The Shape of Water, and Hellboy. He’s also great friends with Hideo Kojima.
Before getting to be a part of Death Stranding with his likeness being used for the character Deadman, Guillermo del Toro’s first collaboration in the world of gaming alongside Hideo Kojima came with the ill-fatedSilent Hills.
Released as a playable teaserwith a compelling and mysterious storyin 2014,del Toro was co-directing the game with Kojima, but it was unfortunately canceled the following year by Konami, the short demo also getting pulled from marketplaces.
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
2024
As revealed in the near-ten-minute-long DS2: On the Beach trailer, Oscar-winning director George Miller is modeled afteran obscure new character, seemingly joining the likes of del Toro and Nicolas Winding Refn for the sequel game.
George Miller has been involved since the first Death Stranding, sharing his kind words and thoughts about the game and its designer in the Connecting Worlds documentary, though now he will be immortalized with his own captain character, with a missing hand and a winged tar cat companion.
Most famous for creating and helming the Mad Max franchise, which continues with 2024’s Furiosa spin-off prequel, Miller has also put his creative efforts toward Happy Feet, the adult fantasy movie Three Thousand Years of Longing, and the emotional and inspirational true story Lorenzo’s Oil.
2000
2005
Garbage in the Garden of Eden
Rheingold
The Death Stranding 2 trailer shown at the 2024 State of Play had another noteworthy film director reveal. Sam getsa ventriloquist puppet companion evocative of MimirfromGod of Warwith stop-motion animation (of which Guillermo del Toro is a huge proponent and implemented for his 2022 Pinocchio movie).
That puppet uses the likeness of acclaimedTurkish-German film director Fatih Akin, whose 2017 movie In the Fade, starring Diane Kruger, took home the Golden Globe, Palme d’Or, and Critics Choice Award, among many other accolades.
The Edge of Heavenis another film of Akin’s that received the prestigious Palme d’Or award at Cannes, andHead-On,Soul Kitchen, andIn Julyare some of his other highest-rated and award-winning films.
2019-2020
Nope
Known largely for his comedy writing and acting roles in projects like Key and Peele, MadTV, Big Mouth, and Keanu, Jordan Peele has now quickly beenpropelled to the status of a horror filmmaking icon, crafting some of the most unsettling, metaphorical, and layered stories in the genre, starting with Get Out in 2017.
Given all his unique horror filmography (which also extends to writing and producing 2021’s Candyman) and teases from Kojima on Instagram, it was no surprise that, at the 2023 Game Awards,Kojima’s partnership with Jordan Peelewas announced for a weird “new form of media” horror game called OD.
Jordan Peele’s creative input and role are still kept under wraps, possibly as a writer and/or co-director. Hideo has even further revealed that Peele isn’t the sole Hollywood recruit for the game, teasing an"Avengers”-style collaboration of talents.
Hereditary, Midsommar, Beau Is Afraid
Darren Aronofsky
Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Noah, Mother!, The Whale, Postcard from Earth (Las Vegas Sphere Experience)
Gareth Edwards
End Day, Monsters, Godzilla (2014), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Creator
Episodes of Heroes and Villains and Perfect Disaster
D.B. Weiss
Game of Thrones (Show Co-Creator, Director), Leslie Jones: Time Machine, 3 Body Problem (Show Co-Creator)
Michael Bay
Bad Boys 1&2, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, The Island, Transformers Franchise, Pain & Gain, 13 Hours, 6 Underground, Ambulance
S.S. Rajamouli
Student No. 1, Simhadri, Challenge, Chatrapathi, Vikramarkudu, Thief of Yama, Magadheera, Maryada Ramanna, Eega, Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, RRR
Ana Lily Amirpour
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Bad Batch (2016), Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
Episodes of Breakthrough, Legion, Castle Rock, Briarpatch, The Twilight Zone, Homemade, and Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Ildikó Enyedi
Mole, My Twentieth Century, Büvös vadász, Tamas and Juli, Simon, The Magician, From Europe Into Europe, On Body and Soul, The Story of My Wife
Tran Anh Hung
The Scent of Green Papaya, Cyclo, The Vertical Ray of the Sun, I Come With The Rain, Norwegian Wood, Eternity, The Taste of Things
David Gelb
Jiro Dreams of Sushi, The Lazarus Effect, A Faster Horse, Wolfgang, Obi-Wan Kenobi: A Jedi’s Return, Stan Lee
Paul King
Bunny and the Bull, The Pajama Men: Last Stand to Reason, Paddington, Paddington 2, Wonka
Episodes of Dog Face, The Mighty Boosh, Come Fly With Me, Little Crackers, Space Force, and Outsiders
Timur Bekmambetov
Peshawar Waltz, Nashi 90-e (Show Director), The Arena, Escape from Afghanistan, Night Watch, Day Watch, Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Ben-Hur, Yolki Movies
Danny and Michael Philippou
Valdimar Jóhannsson
Lamb, Travis Scott’s Circus Maximus
If you follow Hideo Kojima on his socials, you’ll know almost every other day thathe meets with filmmakers from all around the world, including lots of alumni from A24,the studio where the Death Stranding film adaptation is happening.
As Kojima shared in Connecting Worlds, he’slong been a fan of original arthouse filmsas he himself aims to create different and groundbreaking things in the game industry, likethe wonderfully thought-provoking movies that A24 puts out.
Some of the biggest names he’s met with areGarland,Aster,Aronofsky, Bay, Edwards, andD.B. Weiss. There have also been lots of notable international filmmakers in the mix such asIldikó Enyedi,Ilya Naishuller,Valdimar Jóhannsson, andS.S. Rajamouli.
Some were already confirmed to have their likeness scanned to most likely be a part of cameos for Death Stranding 2, while the more horror-leaning directors likeAna Lily Amirpour(who previously worked with Peele on The Twilight Zone), thePhilippou Brothers, andAri Astercould be recruited for OD.
Whichever it might be, we can’t wait to see how these talented and diverse filmmakers will serve Hideo Kojima’s creative vision.
