I watched crewmen push a rusted gallows through a backlot gate as rain polished the metal. You could feel a videogame scene exhale into real air, and for a moment I stopped being sure which medium I was watching. I left that gate thinking A24 might be making Elden Ring feel touchable again.
On a grey London morning, birdcages and banners sat under tarps — Practical sets are winning the mood
I saw the set photos on Reddit and felt a small, private relief: The Lands Between is being built, not conjured. The birdcages from Raya Lucaria Academy appear in place; banners bearing the Erdtree sigil hang where actors will pass. The birdcages looked like a library of trapped starlight.
That matters because FromSoftware’s game lives in texture and weight. Glintstone chandeliers, Rennala’s academy motifs, even a distant hint of the Red Wolf of Radagon work better when they cast real shadows. You and I both know a digital backdrop can look slick on promotional reels yet feel thin in the theater seat.
Will the Elden Ring movie use practical sets or CGI?
Early evidence points to a hybrid approach: physical sets for key locations and CGI to extend vistas. Reddit posts from users on set show helmets that read like Leyndell knight props, gilded accents, and practical banners — tactile anchors that let visual effects take on supportive, not dominant, roles. Alex Garland directing and A24’s willingness to spend reportedly north of $100 million (€93 million) suggests they can afford that balance.
At midday a crew wheeled out a gallows — The Dung-Eater possibility raises the stakes
A single photo of a gallows on the lot put a familiar cold in the chest of anyone who’s played the opening hour. That structure is the same kind of grim theater FromSoftware used to introduce certain loathsome characters.
Yes: the Dung-Eater’s arc in the game is memorable and grotesquely specific. In-game he functions as both summon and hostile NPC; his presence in a film would be a clear sign that the movie isn’t shying from the game’s stranger corners. The gallows struck with the cold humor of a rotten punchline — intimate, unsettling, impossible to ignore.
Is the Dung-Eater character in the film?
We don’t have confirmation, only strong implication. A gallows on a period-accurate set strongly hints at a recreated prologue or a direct cameo. If A24 and Garland include him, they’re signaling willingness to bring odd, player-driven threads into the storytelling — which could be thrilling or divisive depending on how faithful they stay to FromSoftware’s tone.
Outside the lot, chatter traced to budgets, talent, and A24’s gamble — This is A24’s biggest cinematic push
People are talking about name recognition: Alex Garland, FromSoftware, and a cast whose details have teased curiosity rather than calmed it. The rumored budget — reported at $100 million+ (€93M+) — makes this A24’s largest production yet and frees Garland to favor practical world-building when it matters most.
Reddit, industry sources, and trade outlets have pushed these images into focus. Platforms like Reddit move leaks fast, and you can feel a community shaping expectations in real time. That’s both pressure and free marketing, and it will affect how you and I read the final product.
Physical sets buy emotional texture; they’re the difference between a scene you watch and a scene that lingers in your bones. Will A24 and Garland keep leaning into tactile design, or will studio pressures pull them toward safer, flatter spectacle?
Are you hoping for a faithful, physical adaptation that risks strangeness, or would you prefer a streamlined blockbuster that smooths the rough edges?