Hideo Kojima Jokes He Wants to Die in a Movie Theater Just as the Film Begins

Veteran game director and self-proclaimed movie enthusiast Hideo Kojima revealed he'd like to pass away in a movie theater just as the film is about to start. The 62-year-old made the remark at a film festival in Rome earlier this month and recently shared a clip on his official X account.

"I've always thought that when I die, I would like to die in a movie theater," Kojima said in Japanese, as translated by IGN. He explained, "I love the moment before the movie starts the most. You enter the theater, the lights go off, and commercials and trailers play, right? I'd like to die just before the movie starts."

Kojima delivered this statement with a serious tone but a hint of a smile. The creator of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding is a known cinephile, claiming on his X profile that 70% of his body is made up of movies.

This isn't the first time Kojima has discussed his own death. Last year, after revealing several discarded game ideas—including a 'Forgetting Game' where the main character gradually loses information and abilities if you take a long break—Kojima said he left his staff a USB stick of game ideas for after his death.

As reported by VGC, Kojima told Edge magazine that the pandemic changed his perspective. "Turning 60 was less of a turning point than my experiences during the pandemic," he said. "I fell seriously ill and had eye surgery. Until then, I didn't think I was old. I didn't feel my age and assumed I could create forever. But then I got sick and couldn't create anything. I saw many people around me passing away. I was confronted with death. I recovered, but now I think, 'How many years do I have left to make a game or film? Maybe 10?'"

Also last year, Kojima discussed his fears about aging. "What I'm most afraid of is time," he told GQ. "I'm afraid of dying and having dementia. I'm afraid of forgetting things when I get old. I'm afraid I won't even realize what I'm forgetting."

Kojima made his latest quip at the Piccolo America Foundation's 12th edition of Il Cinema in Piazza, an outdoor film festival in Rome. As reported by Game Surf, he participated in panel discussions and introduced several movies. On July 4, he introduced Shunya Ito's 1972 film Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41, the second in Japanese studio Toei's exploitation series. The film and its star, Meiko Kaji, heavily influenced Quentin Tarantino, who used Kaji's song Urami Bushi in Kill Bill. Kojima noted that the series' inventive cinematography and the young crew's commitment to creating something unique on a limited budget inspired him as a game creator.

He also introduced Dario Argentino's Profondo Rosso (1975) on June 5, praising the moment when both the protagonist and viewer realize the truth simultaneously. "It's something I try to put in my own games," Kojima said. He explained that he referenced gory moments from Argentino's films in Policenauts and Snatcher by including decapitation, but that became off-limits when he moved to PlayStation console exclusives.

The final film Kojima presented, alongside Death Stranding 2 actor Luca Marinelli, was Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). Kojima said his movie-loving family took him to see both American and Italian Westerns growing up, and he was struck by the difference in worldview: the sheriff always wins in American Westerns, while Italian Westerns feature more morally ambiguous characters. He noted that Leone's moral ambiguity won him over, reminding him of Akira Kurosawa's classics.

Kojima's movie influences are clear in his games, dating back to 1987's Metal Gear and 1988's Snatcher. But it was 1998's Metal Gear Solid that brought cinematic lighting, fully voiced dialogue, and famously long movie-like cutscenes to PlayStation gamers worldwide. Kojima has previously cited war movies like The Great Escape and The Guns of Navarone as influences on MGS, with Snake's design riffing on Kurt Russell's Snake Plissken in Escape from New York.

With Death Stranding 1 and 2, Kojima bridged the gap between game and film even further, featuring full performances from actors like Norman Reedus and Léa Seydoux.

On X, Kojima often shares his thoughts on recent movies he's seen in theaters and Blu-ray releases he's picked up, covering a wide range of genres, countries, and decades. He also appeared on an episode of Criterion's closet picks, overjoyed to be surrounded by movies and enthusiastically introducing his selections.

Kojima is an avid collector of physical media, including vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. After Sony announced it would stop releasing games on disc, Kojima retweeted a comment on the importance of physical media, warning against a digital-only future. At Il Cinema, he specifically called out Sony: "Since production is ending in 2028, this is about video games, but I grew up with physical media, so I find it really sad. Currently, I've been buying up a lot of Blu-rays and CDs."

Hideo Kojima is currently working on the experimental horror game OD, to be published by Xbox Game Studios in collaboration with Get Out director Jordan Peele. The game has no release window yet.