Pragmata Star David Menkin Challenges Elden Ring Movie Creators to Honor the Fans

Video game adaptations haven’t always had the best reputation, and most of the time, the reason is that they deviate too far from the source material and don’t honor the fans who played the game. Pragmata star David Menkin understands that there’s little point in adapting a critically acclaimed title for the big screen or TV if they fail to honor the people who’ve played the game and made it popular.

While Alex Garland’s film adaptation of Elden Ring is still years away, in our exclusive interview with David Menkin, he challenged the people making the movie to honor the fans.

David Menkin Says Video Game Adaptations for Film and TV Must Honor the Players

Elden Ring is far from an easy game to adapt to the big screen, as one of its greatest strengths is gameplay and the overall player-driven experience. So, adapting the game’s massive world and rich lore into a linear 2-hour movie is a herculean task. However, recent success stories like Arcane and Fallout prove that as long as you honor the fans, the experience of playing the games, and respect the source material, video game adaptations can be good, and even great.

We asked David Menkin if he’s open to reprising his role as Hugh Williams in a live-action adaptation of Capcom’s Pragmata. He didn’t deny the prospect, but he also stated that “Maybe we should allow games to be games and films to be films, and then every so often, when the connection can be made, we do it,” while explaining that the reason why live-action adaptations like the Fallout TV series and The Last of Us are good is because the narrative in the games were already phenomenal.

Menkin mentioned that if a project arrives in the medium of video games first, and then it’s turned into a film or a TV series, then it’s the responsibility of the creators to ensure that they honor the fans and players while making the adaptation. Elden Ring floats in the same boat; it was first and foremost a video game developed by FromSoftware, before A24 picked it up and hired Alex Garland to write and direct a live-action film adaptation.

So, David Menkin challenged the people making the Elden Ring movie to honor the fans who played it, because there would be no point in adapting it otherwise.

If it comes from games first, and goes to film and TV second, you have to honor the people who play the games and made that game popular. That is my direct challenge to the people making Elden Ring. If they do not honor the people who played it and made it popular, why are you making it?

David Menkin also stated that games are now informing film and TV more than before, which is essentially true, especially for big-budget adaptations of iconic video game IPs. So, according to him, when a game is being adapted into a film or series, the creators must respect the players and fans who made the original title popular enough to warrant the adaptation.

David Menkin Is Open to a Potential TV Adaptation of Pragmata

Before he declared his direct challenge to the people making Elden Ring in the context of honoring the fans while adapting the game, we asked him if he’s open to returning as Hugh Williams in a live-action adaptation of Pragmata, since Capcom’s own Street Fighter and Resident Evil are two of this year’s major video game adaptations. He said yes without any hesitation and provided an example of Pedro Pascal and his role as The Mandalorian to explain how he’d play Hugh in a live-action adaptation of Pragmata.

Whenever something really physically demanding has to happen, Mando has his mask on. He’s not gonna fight with his mask off because it’s written into lore that it would be shameful, and he could no longer be a Mandalorian. As far as I’m concerned, whenever Hugh has to do something more than a walk, the mask has to come down. So, yeah, it’s definitely gonna be me, because I will have a team of amazing stunt actors doing all the difficult stuff. If they’ll have me, I will do anything to be considered.

He then goes on to say that it has to be a TV adaptation, so that the relationship between Hugh and Diana can develop organically throughout multiple episodes without the restriction of a film’s runtime.

In a film, you don’t have time, and it’s something that I’ve been trying to explain to people that games give you more of an opportunity to invest in your characters, and to learn more about them.

This is a concern with the Elden Ring movie since the game is massive, and cramming it all into a 2-hour movie can literally tarnish it. However, only time will tell if the final film respects and honors the fans who played the game and if it can coherently adapt the lore within its limited runtime.

Game	Pragmata
Developer	Capcom
Release Date	April 17, 2026
Platforms	PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2

So, what do you think about David Menkin’s take on adapting video games for film and TV? Do you think the film adaptation of Elden Ring will stick the landing? Let us know in the comments section below.