Despite being approached “many times”, Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone has so far said no to a Stardew Valley film or TV adaptation. However, if David Lynch had offered, it would have probably been a different story.
We are in a rather ripe age of video game adaptations. That’s the good, the bad and the ugly. So when everything under the sun seems to be getting adapted for film or TV, even Slime Rancher, why not wholesome farming-sim Stardew Valley?
“I think the main reason is that I would be worried that I wouldn’t be happy with the final result. Stardew Valley is very much about the characters and the world and the tone of the game,” Barone told IGN. “So to take those characters, which, they don’t have voices in the game. You have to use your imagination a bit to fill in the gaps, which I think makes the game more personal to every player. They’re filling in the gaps. If it becomes a movie or a TV show, suddenly those gaps are all filled for you.”
Barone referenced his own experience with the Harry Potter books, which he read before watching the Daniel Radcliffe-fronted films. “I had my own idea of what Harry looked like, what Ron looked like and everything. Then you see the movies. I can’t remember what my own idea was anymore. It’s all just now what the movies are,” he explained, noting it was the same with books like The Lord of the Rings in a post-Peter Jackson world (which to be fair, Aragorn will always be Viggo Mortensen in my head).
“With Stardew Valley, I’m a little bit wary of taking that step because I feel like it might- I care about Stardew Valley so much that I don’t – Even though it would be cool to see Stardew Valley on the silver screen and drive by a movie theater and see Stardew Valley on the marquee, that would be cool, but it’s like, ‘Is it really the best for Stardew Valley?’ I guess that’s my worry,” the solo creator said.
But while Barone makes a fair point here, and one that should be admired, there is one person he would have trusted with a Stardew Valley adaptation: the late, great David Lynch. “I said once, that if David Lynch had wanted to make a Stardew Valley movie in the style of Twin Peaks or something, I would’ve been like, ‘Yeah, great. You can do whatever you want, Mr. Lynch.’ Honestly, I would’ve let him just do whatever,” Barone said.
“I think it would’ve been great. Especially if it’s like this mainstream Hollywood Stardew Valley. It’s like, ‘Is this really the heart and soul of what Stardew Valley is about?’ And I’m sure someone could do a great job, but it feels like it’s a bit of a roll of the dice.”
Barone added Lynch had “a transcendental understanding of the world”, which you could “see in his art”. Sadly, though, the two never met. Oh, what could have been.
Stardew Valley will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this month. Back in January last year, Barone revealed that, as of December 2024, Stardew Valley had sold in excess of 41m copies across platforms. Of those 41m, over half are on PC, with 26m copies sold. Meanwhile, the Nintendo Switch accounts for 7.9m Stardew Valley sales.
As well as Stardew Valley, Barone also has his next game – Haunted Chocolatier – in the works. Earlier this year, Baron said he had “been very productive lately”, and Haunted Chocolatier was indeed alive and well (as is he).
