Nintendo is making a ‘Legend of Zelda’ live-action film
Zelda #Zelda
Nintendo has announced it is making a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie. Let the casting speculation begin.
The project has apparently been in the works for some time, with Maze Runner’s Wes Ball already set to direct. The Legend of Zelda film will be co-produced by Nintendo’s Representative Director Shigeru Miyamoto and Arad Productions’ Chairman Avi Arad.
The founder and former CEO of Marvel Studios, Arad has been the producer on a long list of films such as Morbius, Uncharted, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He was also executive producer on all three Tom Holland Spider-Man films.
“I have been working on the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda for many years now with Avi Arad-san, who has produced many mega hit films,” Miyamoto wrote on Nintendo’s official X / Twitter account.
“I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me, and we have now officially started the development of the film with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.”
Deadline reports that the adaptation will be written by screenwriter Derek Connolly. Connolly has previously penned Jurassic World, Detective Pikachu, and co-wrote the story for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
No details have been released regarding whether the Legend of Zelda film will be based on any of the video games in the franchise, or if it will follow an original story. It will be co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment, with the latter also taking care of global theatrical distribution.
Nintendo’s Hollywood ambitions have likely been galvanised by the recent success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The video game adaptation earned $1.3 billion at the global box office, making it the second biggest animated film in history. It also made some pretty drastic changes to Mario’s iconic voice, demonstrating that audiences probably won’t be too put off if Legend of Zelda protagonist Link finally breaks his famous silence.