Stardew Valley dev is "too protective" of their IP to give away its movie rights - unless Studio Ghibli is interested

Stardew Valley
(Image credit: ConcernedApe)

The developer of Stardew Valley says they're "too protective" of their IP to give away its movie rights - unless the likes of Studio Ghibli or David Lynch are interested. 

In an interview with IGN, Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone talked about the possibility of a Stardew Valley movie, following the likes of Five Nights at Freddy's, Super Mario Bros, Uncharted, and more - which have recently been adapted for the big screen. "I'm just too protective of my IP to just hand it over to someone and say go ahead and make a Stardew Valley movie or whatever," the developer tells the outlet, "I would need to be closely involved with that." 

There is an exception to this rule, however, and it comes in the form of My Neighbor Totoro filmmakers Studio Ghibli or Twin Peaks creator David Lynch. "If Studio Ghibli approached me, I would probably say okay, let's do it," Barone jokes. "If David Lynch approached me and wanted to make a Stardew Valley movie, I would say go ahead, just do it." Stardew Valley's wholesome vibes would make it the perfect Studio Ghibli movie, although David Lynch's take on the farming sim will probably be quite different. 

A Stardew Valley movie may not be on the cards right now, but there's still plenty to look forward to if you're a fan of the game. For starters, we've got the Stardew Valley 1.6 update coming soon, which is set to add a lot of new content, including a major festival, 100+ new lines of dialogue, a new farm type, new late-game content, and even more "secrets." Beyond this, the same developer is also working on their next game Haunted Chocolatier, and another mysterious new project

Wondering what is making its way to movie screens one day? Take a look at our upcoming movie games list. 

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.  

Read more
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley creator says "a game can have too much content" but still won't say "the book is closed" on the farming sim, teasing updates "maybe even 50 years from now"
Link and Epona
A Zelda movie is finally happening, but Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto used to adamantly oppose the idea even "if Steven Spielberg himself" wanted to do it
Haunted Chocolatier: a screenshot of a player standing in a dark house.
Haunted Chocolatier: Everything we know about the Stardew Valley creator's next game
The shipping box in Stardew Valley
Cozy farming sim Stardew Valley has sold over 41 million copies as of right now, with over half on PC and almost 8 million on the Switch
Screenshot from Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children showing Cloud holding an unconscious Tifa in his arms.
With everything from Helldivers to Zelda getting the big screen treatment, OG Final Fantasy 7 director would "love" for the JRPG to get another movie
Shadow of the Colossus
15 years after it was announced, the Shadow of the Colossus film adaptation might still be made according to director – and they have a script
Latest in Simulation
A Hobbit man cooking in a cozy kitchen in Tales of the Shire
Cozy Lord of the Rings game Tales of the Shire aims to be something "Tolkien would be happy with," and "add to his world like a real mythology"
inZOI Character Studio trailer screenshot showing a young woman with ginger-y hair and a light baseball cap smiling to the side
The Sims competitor inZOI dethrones Hollow Knight: Silksong to become most wishlisted game on Steam
American Truck Simulator
3,348 days later, American Truck Simulator is finally delivering the DLC I've been waiting for longer than Hollow Knight fans have been anticipating Silksong
A woman chasing a shining butterfly with a leaping cat on her shoulder in InZOI
inZOI review: "Currently feels like a soulless imitation of the worst parts of The Sims"
inZOI Character Studio trailer screenshot showing a young woman with ginger-y hair and a light baseball cap smiling to the side
If you can't get enough of killing Sims in The Sims 4, iNZOI offers "16 different types of deaths" to inflict upon your poor unsuspecting Zois
Boro and Alta sit on a bench together in Wanderstop
"It's OK for me to move on": Years after scoring Minecraft, composer C418's latest project is about running a cozy tea shop with a "stupidly complex music system"
Latest in News
Lunar Remastered Collection
"Will today’s players still enjoy a game from 30 years ago?": JRPG icon Kei Shigema says he was thrilled to see Lunar getting a remaster even after all this time
Nick Offerman as Bill and Murray Bartlett as Frank in The Last of Us episode 3
The Last of Us season 2 showrunners tease a "gorgeous" episode akin to season 1’s Emmy-nominated Bill and Frank story: "Just you wait"
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
CD Projekt boss says "cutting-edge single-player games" – you know, like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 – will "continue to enjoy great popularity" despite industry shifts
Cyberpunk 2077
Despite releasing exactly zero new games, CD Projekt bagged $120 million in profit for 2024 – the Witcher and Cyberpunk studio's third-best result ever
Muse
Daredevil: Born Again midseason trailer teases Matt Murdock’s violent fight with Muse, including a gory scene straight from the comics
Batman looking over the city during Batman: Arkham City, one of the best PS3 games.
The PS2 Batman Begins game was considered such a "disaster" that Christopher Nolan turned down a Dark Knight-inspired game