A24's 'Elden Ring' Film Heads to Market With Reported $200 Million Budget, Amazon Deal

A24's film adaptation of the video game "Elden Ring" is heading to the American Film Market next month carrying a reported production budget of $175 million to $200 million, making it, by multiple trade accounts, the most expensive standalone film ever offered for sale at a film or television market. The studio is also navigating a separate deal in which Amazon MGM Studios has acquired a bundle of international pay-one streaming rights to the picture, according to reporting first published by Deadline on Tuesday and independently corroborated the same day by Screen Rant.

The film, written and directed by Alex Garland ("Civil War," "Ex Machina"), is fully financed by A24 and is now in post-production ahead of a theatrical release set for March 3, 2028. It will be presented to international buyers at the American Film Market, which runs November 10 through 15 in Los Angeles at the Fairmont Century Plaza.

A Budget Without Precedent for A24

Deadline's report, syndicated by Yahoo, put the budget at $175 million to $200 million, "closer to the latter," and described the project as the biggest-budget standalone title ever offered at a film or TV market, ranking above the most recent "Hunger Games" installment in scale. Screen Rant's separate account characterized it as "the most expensive standalone project to be put up for sale at any film or television market in history" and estimated the film would need to gross roughly $500 million to break even.

That figure dwarfs anything in A24's 15-year history. The specialty studio, known for lower-budget prestige titles such as "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and "Uncut Gems," had never previously financed a film in triple-digit-million territory at this scale; its prior high-water mark, 2025's "Marty Supreme," reportedly cost an estimated $60 million to $70 million.

Both outlets reported that A24 is flying teams to meet international buyers in person, with staff present as buyers read portions of a tightly guarded screenplay said to run at least 180 pages — suggesting a finished runtime that could approach three hours.

Amazon Takes an International Stake

Separately, Amazon MGM Studios has acquired a package of international pay-one streaming rights spanning numerous territories, according to both reports, in a deal described as worth "tens of millions of dollars," though exact terms were not disclosed. Pay-one rights typically take effect after a film's theatrical and premium video-on-demand windows close, and Screen Rant's account suggested the film would likely stream on Prime Video in the affected territories. A24 and Amazon both declined to comment on the deal when approached by Deadline.

Domestically, A24 already has a pay-one streaming arrangement with HBO under a multi-year deal the companies struck earlier this year, meaning "Elden Ring" could eventually land on HBO Max in the United States even as Amazon controls equivalent rights abroad.

The Game, the Pedigree and the Stakes

"Elden Ring" is a role-playing game developed by FromSoftware under director Hidetaka Miyazaki and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, built around a mythology credited to novelist George R.R. Martin. According to the original joint announcement from Bandai Namco and A24, the game has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide since its February 2022 release, a scale the companies cited when the film adaptation was first unveiled in May 2025.

Martin and longtime collaborator Vince Gerardis are producers on the film alongside Peter Rice — recently named Netflix's chief content officer — and DNA Films partners Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich. The cast, confirmed in an April 2026 release-date announcement, is led by Kit Connor alongside Ben Whishaw, Cailee Spaeny, Tom Burke, Havana Rose Liu, Sonoya Mizuno, Jonathan Pryce, Ruby Cruz and Nick Offerman. Industrial Light & Magic is handling visual effects and post-production, and the film was shot for IMAX, with principal photography wrapping over the summer, according to TheWrap's report on the full cast and release date.

Why the Market Matters

The American Film Market is the film industry's largest annual marketplace for licensing distribution rights territory by territory, outside of major festivals like Cannes. A project of this size being shopped there — rather than fully pre-sold by a traditional international sales agent, as is common for films this expensive — is itself unusual; big-budget studio films rarely pass through the independent market system at all, since major studios typically self-distribute worldwide. A24 financing the film entirely on its own balance sheet, then selling off pieces of the rights package territory by territory, represents a significant bet for a company whose previous distribution strategy relied on more modest budgets and narrower rollouts.

Video-game adaptations have had a mixed box-office record, and reporting on comparable titles underscores the risk: Screen Rant noted that Martin's most recent produced film adaptation, "In the Lost Lands," grossed roughly $6.5 million worldwide against a reported $55 million budget. Against that backdrop, a nearly $200 million bet on a genre with no consistent track record of matching big-budget franchise returns is a notable gamble, even allowing for "Elden Ring's" large built-in fan base.

What's Next

Neither A24 nor Amazon has issued a public statement confirming deal terms, and the companies declined to comment to Deadline on the reported figures. The film is expected to be a centerpiece of A24's presence at next month's American Film Market, where additional territory sales and, potentially, first footage could be unveiled to buyers. No sequel has been announced, though trade reporting has suggested further installments would likely follow if the film performs well theatrically. "Elden Ring" remains on track for its March 3, 2028, theatrical and IMAX release.