In an interview at San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, IGN asked Metal Gear Solid movie director Jordan Vogt-Roberts what his take on a Legend of Zelda movie would be.
“The thing about Zelda is Zelda is not Lord of the Rings, right? You cannot forget how quirky and bizarre Zelda is,” Vogt-Roberts said. “I think you need to find a way to actually fuse the traditional Zelda and the very new Zelda.”
He explained that combining the fantasy feel of games like Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past with the new-age, Tron-like technology of Breath of the Wild would be important for the movie, but would have to somehow be done in a way that isn’t overwhelming for the viewer. And his opinion on the hotly debated idea of whether or not Link would talk in said movie?
“I actually fully think Link should not speak the entire film. I would do a film where he’s a silent protagonist,” said Vogt-Roberts.
So there you have it: one more advocate for a silent Link in a Zelda movie adaptation.
The idea for such a movie is nothing new, of course, and many pitches and fan-made versions have been created throughout the years. In 2008, IGN released a legit-looking live action trailer, which, to the Zelda community’s disappointment, turned out to be an April Fool’s joke. An animated movie pitch from 2007 by studio Imagi surfaced in 2013, and even Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma said in an interview with Nintendo Power magazine in 2011 that he’d love to see one made if he had the resources.
The fact that Nintendo has ultimately shut down all of these ideas is also nothing new. It’s understandable, considering the backlash that the now-infamous 1993 live action Super Mario Bros. film has endured since its release, but hope may not yet be lost. Earlier this year Nintendo announced its partnership with Illumination Studios (of Despicable Me and Minions fame) to develop an animated movie starring the portly plumber, with Shigeru Miyamoto himself acting as co-producer for the film.
Do you think a Zelda movie will follow somewhere on the horizon?
