Nintendo has officially announced development of a live-action film adaptation of The Legend of Zelda, with the production set to be overseen by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Marvel Studios founder, Avi Arad.
The news was announced in a press release on Nintendo’s website and via Twitter, with a cavalcade of details included. Per Nintendo, the project will be a co-production between Nintendo and Arad Productions, with co-financing from Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Around 50% of the project will be financed directly by Nintendo.
In the announcement, Nintendo has also shared the film will be directed by Wes Ball, who is most known for his work on the Maze Runner films. He will also direct the upcoming fourth instalment of the Planet of the Apes saga, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
The initiation of the project is likely inspired by the success of the recently released Super Mario Bros. Movie, which ended its cinematic run with a gross of USD $1.36 billion.
Read: The Super Mario Bros. Movie Review
While Nintendo experienced great success with this animated foray, a live-action film is entirely different, and rather unexpected.
With the failure of the original 1993 Super Mario Bros. film – a live-action adaptation that took great liberties with the lore of the franchise – Nintendo has played coy with investing in any similar opportunities.
Given the confidence with which it announced this upcoming live-action Legend of Zelda project, and that it’s held out on live action adaptations for so long, we can hope the ideas and vision backing this investment are sound. The Legend of Zelda is a storied tale with plenty of fans worldwide, and there’s every chance this upcoming film will do justice to the source material.
According to Nintendo’s press release, it has great hopes for this project in future.
‘By getting deeply involved in the movie production, with the aim to put smiles on everyone’s faces through entertainment, Nintendo will continue its efforts to produce unique entertainment and deliver it to as many people as possible,’ the company said, per rough English translation.
We’ll likely learn more about this live-action film project in the coming years.
