- Sony Pictures and Story Kitchen have acquired the live-action feature rights to the award-winning indie game The Drifter, a pulp adventure about a man caught in a deadly conspiracy involving shadowy corporations and high-tech soldiers.
- The Drifter, developed by Powerhoof, won Game of the Year at the 2025 Australian Game Developer Awards for its visual art, narrative, and sound design, offering a modern take on the classic 2D point-and-click adventure format.
- Story Kitchen, known for its focus on video game adaptations, is also working on Tomb Raider projects, Life Is Strange, Just Cause, and Streets of Rage adaptations, with The Drifter movie currently in development with producers attached but no cast or release date announced.
Sony Pictures is turning to another acclaimed game for its next major movie adaptation after Resident Evil. The <a href="https://comicvibe.com/why-flutter-entertainment-flut-stock-is-trading-up-today/” title=”Why Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Stock Is Trading Up Today”>entertainment company’s new project brings an award-winning indie game to the big screen.
As per a Deadline report, Sony Pictures and Story Kitchen have acquired the live-action feature rights to The Drifter. Dmitri M. Johnson and Michael Lawrence Goldberg will produce. Timothy I. Stevenson and Elena Sandoval are executive producers.
The Drifter movie will draw from Powerhoof’s pulp adventure about a wandering man caught in a deadly conspiracy. After witnessing a brutal murder, he is drowned by high-tech soldiers. He later wakes up and fights for survival as he uncovers a plot involving shadowy corporations and a dangerous obsession.
Powerhoof is an independent Australian studio founded by Dave Lloyd and Barney Cumming. The pair previously created Crawl and Regular Human Basketball before releasing their latest adventure.
Story Kitchen continues its push into video game adaptations
The project adds another game adaptation to Story Kitchen‘s expanding slate. The company is developing Tomb Raider projects for Prime Video and Netflix, as well as Life Is Strange for Prime Video.
Story Kitchen is also producing a Just Cause movie at Universal and a Streets of Rage adaptation at Lionsgate. The company’s continued focus on bringing game properties to film and television is seen through these projects.
The Drifter already has strong recognition from the Australian games industry. It won Game of the Year at the 2025 Australian Game Developer Awards. The title also won for visual art, narrative, and sound design.
The game launched on PC in July 2025, followed by releases on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 in June 2026. It offers a modern take on the classic 2D point-and-click adventure format.
The media outlet also mentions that writers and directors have already approached the project with pitches. However, no filmmaker or screenwriter has been announced yet. The Drifter movie currently has producers attached, but no cast or release date has been announced.
