Nintendo Announces Live-Action Legend of Zelda Movie

Published: November 9, 2023

Nintendo Announces Live-Action Legend of Zelda Movie

By Movieguide® Contributor

Following the massive success of THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE earlier this year, Nintendo has decided to bring another franchise to cinemas, announcing that a live-action Zelda movie is now in the works.

“This is Miyamoto. 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,” the official Nintendo profile revealed on X, formerly Twitter. “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 completions, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.”

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. [2]https://t.co/2H9lzzS5Pv

— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) November 7, 2023

While Nintendo is one of the largest video game companies in the world with some of the most recognizable characters in gaming, it has been hesitant to adapt its IPs to cinema until recently.

In April of this year, Nintendo released the widely popular Mario movie, which earned over $1 billion at the box office, becoming one of the top movies of the year. Following its release, many fans started to theorize that Nintendo would begin adapting more of its franchises as they clamored for more content.

While it remains to be seen how many of its IPs Nintendo will turn into movies, it is clear that they are interested in continuing down this path with the announcement of a Legend of Zelda movie.

The upcoming movie, however, will likely receive pre-release criticism – largely because it is a live-action movie. The Mario movie was heavily criticized for its casting prior to its release, especially with Chris Pratt as Mario. The criticism could be much worse for the Zelda movie as the cast will be judged not only on their ability to capture the characters’ voices but also on their appearances.

While the cast is yet to be announced, the production team promises an exciting picture as the MAZE RUNNER director Wes Ball is set to direct, and JURRASIC WORLD writer Derek Connolly is slated to pen the movie. Producer Avi Arad is the former founder and CEO of Marvel Studios and has worked on the recent Spider-Man Spider-Verse trilogy along with the Tom Holland-led, live-action adaptation of the hero.

No release date has been set for the movie.

Movieguide® previously reported:

TV shows and movies based on popular video games have popped up in recent years, and viewers can only expect to see more of them as over a dozen projects based on games are currently in development.

Studios like to produce projects they know have large audiences, which is why sequels and franchises are created from movies that do well. Audiences, however, have become weary of the endless sequels.

Studios are looking to other media sources to create TV shows and movies with an already-established fanbase without pumping out sequels. Video games have become the obvious choice.