In September 2026, Hollywood’s resident horror icon Bill Skarsgård was confirmed to play the lead role in Hideo Kojima’s highly anticipated action-espionage project Physint.
This game marks a long-awaited return to form from Kojima as fans pine for another Metal Gear-style experience. And while much about it is still unknown, we got just a smidge more information about the project thanks to its leading man, Bill Skarsgård.
Skarsgård opened up about the game in a November 5 episode of Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he revealed that he’s a massive fan of the Metal Gear series and shared a conversation he had with Kojima regarding his love for cinema.
“That’s a big deal for me,” he said. “Specifically, the Metal Gear Solid games. I played every single [one], at least the ones on [console] platform. Starting from the one on PlayStation 1 all the way to the last one. I was very enamored by [Kojima], the mythology and the universes he creates, but also the sort of mystique and allure about him, as well.
“I was really into it growing up. He is an auteur, but he’s a video game auteur. He’s fluent in filmmaking, and film, and cinema. I think at this point, I remember at one point way back, 20 years ago, there was talk of a Metal Gear solid movie. ‘Is Hideo going to direct it? Of course, I can’t wait to see him transition into film.’ I asked him, ‘Would you ever do a film?’ and he’s like, ‘No.’ At this point, what he’s doing is inventing a new medium. It is film. It’s eight hours worth of narrative, but it’s also an entire universe that you play. It truly is, quite literally, worldbuilding. Now, with technology, we’re getting closer and closer to something that’s photorealistic and interactive when you play it. He’s a pioneer, and he keeps going out to untreaded waters.”
Skarsgård went on to confirm that he is providing performance capture for the game, something he already has experience with thanks to his role in Marvel’s Eternals and his extensive past working with mocap studio Goodbye Kansas (known for Alan Wake 2, God of War, Cyberpunk 2077 and many more).
This is the latest glimpse into the game we’ve gotten since the cast was revealed in September, which also includes Charlee Fraser, Don Lee, and Minami Hamabe. And in early October, Kojima discussed Physint in a podcast, saying he wants the project to “evoke the roots of Metal Gear Solid games” but be a “new interactive experience with a different kind of spy action,” as told by IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey.
Most notably, Physint recently changed hands from Sony to Xbox; in a bombshell statement, Kojima said the game faced cancellation from the PlayStation parent company, but luckily, Microsoft stepped in to keep it alive. Sources told Bloomberg the project “missed deadlines and was on track to be well over budget despite being years away from release,” suggesting that PlayStation’s seemingly sudden decision to drop the game was a direct result of these issues.
For now, fans can look forward to the Death Stranding anime, as well as watch out for more from Kojima’s upcoming horror game, OD Knock, starring Hunter Schafer and Sophia Lillis. News on the Metal Gear movie continues to be sparse, with its last big update happening earlier this year when Final Destination: Bloodlines duo Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein were brought on to direct.
Image Credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for BAFTA