Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 still hasn’t come out yet, but it already has a movie adaptation in the works.
As reported by Variety, the game’s French developer, Sandfall Interactive, has already signed a deal with Story Kitchen for a live action film based on the story. Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnson & Mike Goldberg shared this statement for the announcement:
“We’re thrilled to collaborate with Sandfall Interactive to bring the rich, immersive world of ‘Expedition 33’ to the big screen. The game’s compelling narrative and complex characters provide a solid foundation for a cinematic experience that will resonate with both gamers and moviegoers alike.”
Sandfall Interactive CEO and Creative Director Guillaume Broche shared this statement:
“Partnering with Story Kitchen allows us to expand the universe of ‘Clair Obscur’ beyond the gaming realm. Their expertise in storytelling and passion for our vision make them the perfect team to translate our game into a captivating film.”
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 recently had a good showing in this month’s Xbox Developer Direct in the lead up to the game’s launch. Although this deal seemed premature, it isn’t as ambitious as the recent media mix flop that was Reflector Entertainment’s Unknown 9: Awakening.
While Reflector seemed to have been preparing video games, comic books, and podcasts to build their world, the failure of the first game in the current trying industry environment led to a premature end to their big bet franchise.
In this case, Story Kitchen seems to have approached Sandfall after seeing the same trailers the rest of us have seen so far. There’s a clear appeal to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s premise. Video game or not, it’s a great setup for a teen and young adult oriented science fiction or fantasy blockbuster movie, in the same vein as The Hunger Games or The Maze Runner movies.
Story Kitchen is a relatively new company, but its founders are veterans in the American entertainment industry. Their focus is on making video game adaptations, as there’s a lot of hope video games will follow comic book superheroes as the next big thing.
Story Kitchen is the same production company working on the Tomb Raider projects with Amazon, as well as adaptations of Just Cause, Toejam & Earl, Streets of Rage, Vampire Survivors, It Takes Two, and more.
And yes, it’s pretty visible that none of these projects have come out yet, but Story Kitchen was just started last 2022. Movies and shows can take longer to make than video games, so we aren’t likely to see any of these adaptations until at least 2027. Honestly, we expect it will take longer than that.
But this is a great signal for Sandfall Interactive, and hopefully, it augurs well for when the game releases this April. So we’re looking forward to seeing how all of this plays out.
