Actress Elle Fanning confirmed to star in Hideo Kojima's next game

It's official: Actress Elle Fanning will star in Hideo Kojima's new game...but we don't know which one it is.

A bit ago during Tokyo Game Show, Kojima Productions put out teaser images of a shadowy headshot to promote his new project. The woman in teaser image was identified fairly quickly by internet sleuths as Elle Fanning, the sister of actress Dakota Fanning who starred in films like Super 8 and Maleficent.

Now Hideo Kojima has officially confirmed that Elle Fanning will indeed be a main character in his next game. We just don't know which game it is.

Right now Kojima is believed to be working as many as three projects: Death Stranding 2, which was confirmed a bit ago by actor Norman Reedus, who starred in the first game, and up to two other projects including a horror game called OVERDOSE that also stars Death Stranding actress Margaret Qualley as well as an interactive cloud project for Xbox. It's possible that OVERDOSE and the Xbox cloud game are one and the same.

Since the confirmation, Kojima has been sharing various snapshots of Fanning in Kojima Productions' advanced motion capture studio that was recently opened in Los Angeles. Kojima's games have always been highly cinematic affairs that verged on feature length films, but Death Stranding pushed things to new boundaries with its all-star cast that included Mads Mikkelsen and The Walking Dead's Norman Reedus.

It's believed that Kojima's next games will similarly merge the worlds of cinema and gaming. We've talked in length how we believe Kojima's next game could be an interactive experience that merges both games and films together.

Hideo Kojima said this about his new Xbox game:

"Yes, there is a game I have always wanted to make. It's a completely new game and one that no one has ever experienced or seen before. I've waited a very long time for the day when I could finally start to create it."

"With Microsoft's cutting-edge cloud technology and the change in the industry's trend, it has now become possible to challenge myself to make this never before seen concept. It may take some time, but I'm looking forward to teaming up with Xbox Game Studios and hope to bring you some exciting news in the future."

Here's some other pertinent information that gives further insight on what Kojima is working on, including a list of Death Stranding 2 coverage and developments;

Rocket Beans interview, 2019:

"I want to do a horror game and interactive mediums are really a good match. I think it could be much scarier than movies if it's on an interactive platform."

"I want to create a horror game, but I don't have this good solution to [being able to look away when things get scary]. For P.T., I wanted to create something that everyone really shares. But if you're too scared you won't play, right? I want to challenge the horror genre and solve this problem."

Kojima's comments during a BAFTA panel, 2019:

"I really want to do something a little different. In the next five years, the platform will be streaming. I think there's something ahead, and I'm thinking about that. It's a movie, but it's a game...I'm thinking of that kind of idea and I want to do that kind of thing."

Kojima is re-thinking his process since COVID-19, Death Stranding 2 may have been re-written or re-booted, comments from Summer Game Fest 2022.

"I can't really say specifically [what the new project is]. It won't be like the past, it won't be one step at a time. It's a drastic change. Just like after 9/11, we have to adapt and think about new ways of creating, as entertainment can't fall behind.

"I have to think about what's going to happen in the future. If it was something like an alien coming into my game, it wouldn't matter much about the current state of the world. We could just make up any concept or idea.

"But I always want to put some societal elements as a base into the game to introduce the players to what's happening and maybe they'll think about it. Of course all the while still be entertaining.

"With this speed of change, I need to really consider which prediction I make and which way I introduce ideas to the player."

Then later in January 2022, Kojima said that his next game was in a "next level of radical experimentation":

Kojima had also told Japanese games site Famitsu that he wanted to blend different mediums together:

"A big title, and a title that's a new challenge. As the boundaries of entertainment disappear in the near future, I'd like to make this a year that we take a step forward into challenging different mediums and expressions."

More info on Kojima's new projects:

• Kojima wants to make a game that changes in real-time
• Hideo Kojima's Xbox project might be an interactive cloud film-game
• Kojima Productions opens new film, TV show, and music division
• Microsoft to publish Hideo Kojima's next game, likely for the cloud
• Report: Hideo Kojima and Konami are on talking terms
• Kojima working on new game, might be a horror experience similar to PT

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Death Stranding 2 Timeline of Events

• March 2020 - Norman Reedus said he's "in talks to do other stuff" with Hideo Kojima.
• June 2020 - Kojima shares cryptic drawings that could hint at Death Stranding in space
• October 2020 - Kojima Productions confirmed it was working on a new unannounced game.
• August 2021 - Norman Reedus, who plays Sam in Death Stranding, said a sequel was "in negotiations right now"
• November 2021 - Kojima says he "rewrote" a script, possibly for Death Stranding 2.