Nintendo just dropped a bombshell – there’s a movie on the way to adapt its hugely popular series, The Legend of Zelda. That’s not even the end of it, since we now know a bit about who’s making the film.
It’s going to be live-action and there are loads of questions that we have about what we can expect, so we’ve gathered all the details that you should know, right here.
The Legend of Zelda movie announcement
Nintendo did one of its classic plays by dropping the announcement of the Zelda movie with absolutely zero fanfare, just putting out a quick statement to break the news.
You can read that announcement post, and Nintendo also posted the news on X (formerly Twitter) as you can see below.
It’s a typically short post to let people know the bare facts without a huge amount of detail, which leaves us with plenty of burning questions to explore.
The Legend of Zelda movie release date rumours
Nintendo
The first thing to say is that there is absolutely no information about when the Zelda movie might actually come out – Nintendo didn’t mention a release window in its announcement, and it doesn’t sound like the film is about to start filming by any means.
Since the post mentions that Nintendo “will develop” a movie based on the series, it’s likely that this is only the start of the pre-production phase, with a lot to work out before it even gets near to being filmed.
Does The Legend of Zelda movie have a trailer?
We don’t have a trailer to check out for the Legend of Zelda movie at this point, and it’s likely to be a number of years before that changes – as we’ve mentioned, it’s early days!
What we do know is that it will be a live-action film, but beyond that, everything is up in the air, so don’t hold your breath for a trailer anytime in 2023 or 2024.
Who’s making The Legend of Zelda movie?
Nintendo
What Nintendo has been surprisingly candid about is the top-level talent that it’s attached to the movie so far. For one thing, we know that Shigeru Miyamoto will be a producer, as will Avi Arad (who is more a movie man and less in the gaming industry).
There’s also a director attached – Wes Ball, who is at the helm of the next Planet of the Apes movie, in case you want to check out his most recent work when it comes out.
The film is going to be a co-production between Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is a tiny bit interesting given that Sony owns PlayStation, although in reality its movie production arm is a pretty distant relation.
What’s the cast for The Legend of Zelda movie?
Nintendo
There’s not a single detail out there yet about the casting for The Legend of Zelda movie – and, much like a trailer, you shouldn’t expect anything for a while. We got details of the case for The Super Mario Bros. Movie around a year before release, but since that was a voice acting gig for all parties, it probably came together a little later.
Since the principal cast will need to be in place for shooting a live-action movie, we should learn about the cast a lot earlier. Of course, rumours have already started to go haywire, with Tom Holland being mentioned as an early favourite to take on the role of Link, but the reality is that no one has a clue at this point.
What game will The Legend of Zelda movie be based on?
The Legend of Zelda is riding high as a franchise – its last two entries, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, have been mega-hits both with gamers and critics.
Nintendo
Tears of the Kingdom sits proudly on our shortlist for 2023’s Game of the Year award, a masterful reinvention of what we expect from the series’ new open-world format.
However, these are just the two most recent games in the saga; there are countless to pick from, including stylised entries like The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, or old-school options like Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time.
Of course, each have their own distinct style and tone (not to mention very different levels of graphical fidelity and art styles), which are not going to be as obviously translated given the movie will be live-action.
There’s no indication at this stage about what story the new movie will adapt, but our money would be on Breath of the Wild, since that was such a breakout hit and is also recognisably from the most modern set of Zelda games available.
Still, we’ll have to wait patiently for more news from Nintendo before we’re able to say anything like that with confidence – until then, it’s anyone’s game!
