CD Projekt Red debuted The Witcher 4 trailer back in December introducing Ciri as the new protagonist. However, the trailer was quite different from what we’ve seen before with the franchise, it focused less on the action and more on the build-up.
Now, The Witcher 4 trailer director has revealed that he took a lot of inspiration from A24 Films like The Lighthouse and The Witch while preparing it.
Why it matters: A24 Films are largely known for complex and ambiguous plots that don’t lean towards a lot of action, but more towards a grounded approach and darker storytelling.
Speaking on the AnsweRED podcast, The Witcher 4 trailer director Tomek Suwalski talked about where he drew inspiration and the approach behind creating the trailer. He praised A24 Films and stated how the trailer took a page out of their books.
What I like about those films (The Witch, The Lighthouse) is that they allow for a slow burn, which is a very rare thing to have in short-form and in a trailer.
– Tomek Suwalski
Suwalski said that he took a slow-burn approach with the trailer which isn’t something seen very much with short-form content. He didn’t want overwhelming action with the trailer as the audience got bored of it, instead, he wanted to do the opposite.
He felt the audience wanted a more mature, more explicit, and deep trailer that could be something meaningful. Therefore, he took a dark approach with it and conveyed the message that real monsters aren’t always creatures, but people.
The Witcher 4 does seem like a pretty dark game from the first trailer. However, if the entire title will keep the same theme is yet to be known. We currently don’t have any information about its release or anything else but hope CDPR reveals more soon.