A24 has finally dropped the highly anticipated teaser trailer for Death Stranding (2025), offering a chilling first look at the surreal, post-apocalyptic world brought to life by Pig and A Quiet Place: Day One director Michael Sarnoski. The film marks a bold leap from the iconic Hideo Kojima video game to the big screen—and based on this teaser, it’s not holding back.

The 90-second teaser, released today, opens with a wide shot of a fractured landscape—empty highways slicing through crumbling terrain. A lone figure, backlit by eerie orange light, carries an infant in a mechanical pod, echoing the game’s protagonist Sam Porter Bridges. Dissonant music by composer Bobby Krlic (The Haxan Cloak) builds tension, as blackened skies crack open to reveal mysterious ghost-like entities floating above a submerged city.

The trailer doesn’t reveal much about plot specifics, but it does hint at a fresh narrative within the Death Stranding universe. A woman’s voiceover teases: “This time, the connection must begin with the end.”

In a joint statement, Kojima Productions and A24 confirmed that the adaptation will not be a direct retelling of the game’s storyline, but rather an expansion of its world. Writer-director Michael Sarnoski explained, “Death Stranding is more than a game—it’s an emotion, a visual poem. My goal is to reimagine this universe as something deeply cinematic, deeply human, and deeply unsettling.”

Hideo Kojima also commented on the teaser’s release: “This is a film that transcends adaptation. We are not simply converting a story—we are 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡ing a new strand. What you see in the teaser is only the beginning.”

The film is being produced by A24, Kojima Productions, and Hammerstone Studios (Barbarian), with Alex Lebovici serving as executive producer. While the cast remains under wraps, rumors continue to swirl around a potential return of Norman Reedus, or even new high-profile names stepping into the eerie world of BTs and Bridge Babies.

Death Stranding is set to hit theaters in late 2025, just months after the release of Death Stranding 2 on June 26. With the trailer already igniting buzz across social media, fans are eager to see whether the film can deliver the same emotional depth, cryptic storytelling, and nightmarish beauty that made the original game a cultural phenomenon.

The end has already begun—and the journey is just getting started.