In a talk with director Alex Garland for Creator on Creator, Druckmann says that he could see a game based on Garland’s movie Civil War. Druckmann explains:

“… That feeling when I saw Civil War. That’s another one where I saw that and I’m like, ‘This will make an amazing game.’ Just the mechanics of being a photographer and going like across the country and heading into danger, but there’s something familiar and yet very unfamiliar about that journey.”

For context, Civil War follows the story of photographers (played by Cailee Spaeny and Kirsten Dunst) as they go on a cross-country trip documenting the war-torn United States. This alternate reality imagines an America divided and president Nick Offerman (who was also in The Last of Us) has seized absolute control.

Interestingly enough, there are a lot of common elements in the movie that could be applied to a game similar to The Last of Us. Not only is it a familiar setting with an unfamiliar twist, but the cross-country element with the different factions do feel like it be altered for a game-based narrative.

Admittedly, the world of Civil War isn’t as heavily fleshed and there would be a lot of room for a developer to fill in the blanks. Druckmann may not be able to work on it, but hopefully some developer would be willing to pick it up.

I guess I just miss video game tie-ins for movies.

A Civil War game isn’t officially happening, but Druckmann’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is expected to launch for the PlayStation 5 sometime soon.

Just in, A24 has dropped a new trailer for Warfare which is co-directed by Garland and an Iraq war veteran Ray Mendoza—who also wrote the script. Check this out:

The simple tagline for the movie reads: “‘Warfare’ embeds audiences with a platoon of American Navy SEALs in the home of an Iraqi family, overwatching the movement of US forces through insurgent territory… A visceral, boots-on-the-ground story of modern warfare, told like never before: in real time and based on the memory of the people who lived it.”

The part of Mendoza in the film is played by D’pharaoh Woon-A-Tai. Other stars in the movie include Will Poulter (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), Joseph Quinn (Fantastic Four: First Steps), Charles Melton (May December), Cosmo Jarvis (Shogun), and Noah Centineo (Black Adam).

Just based on the trailer and Civil War, we know that Garland can definitely capture the whole warfare vibe. It’s just different this time around with Mendoza co-directing because he was actually in that story, and his recollection is more vivid and authentic.

Admittedly, there have been a lot of films centered on the whole war in Iraq, but this one looks like it’s going to be a more experimental take which focuses on one specific mission that goes awry—plus it’s told in real-time.

Warfare is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2025.

Check out the trailer for Civil War starring Kirsten Dunst, Nick Offerman, and Wagner Moura:

The official description for the movie reads:

The film follows events in the U.S. during a civil war. Government forces attack civilians. Journalists are shot in the Capitol.

Admittedly, the description does feel pretty vague, but just watching the trailer, you can see that the film is essentially poking at the notion of a new civil war in the US that is between the two political ideals that have been famously clashing in the country for decades.

With the US presidential elections set to take place in the same year as the film’s release, you can imagine that the timing of this movie was planned. After all, some people online are already saying that the future of the country could just get more dire depending on who would be running the government next.

Just like with Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, a lot of people are also saying that the premise of the movie is a bit on the nose, but I think this could be an interesting thought experiment on what a new civil war in the US could look like and who would be on both sides.

Civil War is expected to come out April 26, 2024.