LogIn"This is going to be the first and greatest hopepunk movie that's ever been made."
Image Credit: BlueTwelve Studio, Stray
Stray, the atmospheric cyberpunk-style adventure game developed by BlueTwelve Studio, which featured an adorable cat as the main character, undeniably stood out as one of the top indie games of 2022, capturing the attention of millions with its incredible futuristic world, loveable characters, and innovative gameplay mechanics that cemented the game's place among other indie heavyweights.
Following the trend of many successful games and game franchises, including Mario, The Last of Us, Twisted Metal, Death Stranding, PAYDAY, Dead by Daylight, Gears of War, and many others, Stray is now getting adapted to a wider audience in the form of an animated movie feature, a fact that was recently confirmed by the heads of Annapurna Animation, the animated films division of Stray's publisher Annapurna, Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Baird revealed that after the success of their debut feature, Nimona, on Netflix, Annapurna Animation's focus is on adapting video games from Annapurna Interactive, the gaming branch of the studio, with Stray being the first in line.
According to the director, their goal with this adaptation is to capture the same "emotional" essence that permeated BlueTwelve's original game and translate its "hopepunk" atmosphere into another medium. For those unfamiliar with the term, "hopepunk" is a narrative concept created by the developers where optimism is portrayed as a form of resistance.
"I love that term, hopepunk," commented Baird. "I think, if we are going to do this adaptation justice, this is going to be the first and greatest hopepunk movie that's ever been made."
Image Credit: BlueTwelve Studio, Stray
"This is a game that's all about what makes us human, and there are no humans in it," he added on the idea behind the adaptation. "It's a buddy comedy about a cat and a robot, and there's such a hilarious dynamic. So, there's comedy inherent in this, but there's not one human being in this movie. I think it's one of the reasons why the game was incredibly popular, that you are seeing the world through the point of view of an adorable cat. How did they pull that off, and how are we going to pull that off in the movie? We will, even though sometimes it feels impossible, but we know that's the essence of the game and the key to telling the story."
Image Credit: BlueTwelve Studio, Stray
Millstein, on the other hand, further expanded on the rationale behind their decision to choose Stray as their first game-to-film adaptation:
"First off, it is just wildly popular," he told EW. "People engage in the game for a variety of reasons, and I think for us at Annapurna, working with different creative people, it's a puzzle. What is it about this game that is so popular? Then the question is, how do you adapt a game into long-form storytelling that is incredibly respectful to the game itself and the audiences, but then also is film worthy? The process of that is always part of the challenge."
Image Credit: BlueTwelve Studio, Stray
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