No, this is not a rumor. After many years of hopes, dreams, fan-made productions, floppy hat malfunctions and April Fool’s jokes, Nintendo is finally making a live action Zelda movie for real. The bombshell announcement dropped on Tuesday from Shigeru Miyamoto himself, the father of the Zelda franchise. Shuntaro Furukawa, the President of Nintendo, confirmed the same statement in a press release published on Nintendo’s Japanese website. According to Mr. Miyamoto, he had already been working on the film itself for at least several years, quite possibly longer. These were his words in Nintendo’s Japan account on X, also known as Twitter:
“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. 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.”
– @Nintendo
Avi Arad is the former CCO / CEO of Marvel Entertainment and Chairman of Marvel Studios. He’s responsible for bringing many Marvel movies to life featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Venom, Morbius, and more. In 2006, Arad left Marvel to form his own production company, Arad Productions Inc., but he continued to produce more Marvel IP movies and won an Academy Award for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The sequel Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is set to release in theaters sometime in 2024.
In an ironic twist of events, Nintendo stated in their press release that they have partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment to help co-produce the Zelda film. Nintendo will finance more than fifty percent of the movie, with Sony financing the other half. It will be directed by Wes Ball, a visual effects expert who is known for making the film The Maze Runner. Ball was also responsible for creating the highly detailed graphic effects for Beowulf and J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek 2009 reboot.
Bloomberg stated that Nintendo stocks spiked soon after the announcement was made. It is not confirmed whether Link will have speaking lines or not at this time. Caught off-guard, reactions among the online Zelda fan community roiled with a mixture of shock, excitement, caution, and curiosity. Some expressed concern that the film won’t be animated after all. Others are already casting their bets on actors and plot direction. Most are watching Nintendo with bated breath. Retired Nintendo staff Takaya Imamura, who helped create Star Fox, F-Zero, and the art direction for Majora’s Mask, weighed in his thoughts on the matter in an X / Twitter post. “In terms of timing, there seems to be some kind of gimmick that ties the movie and the new work together! I’m looking forward to it!” Though not confirmed in the rough Japanese translation at this time, Imamura may be referring to the “new work” as Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda’s latest installment. Imamura also expressed interest in seeing Tingle in the Zelda movie. It is important to note that no official statements have been made whether the new Zelda movie plot will be based on any particular game, or anything about the plot at all for that matter.
In any case, it’s fairly safe to say that Nintendo surely had the new Zelda movie in mind when they purchased Dynamo Pictures and renamed it Nintendo Pictures last year. Live action or not, fans can at least take comfort in the fact that Mr. Miyamoto is heavily involved with the quality of the movie himself. Nintendo is known to be extremely protective of its IPs, with Zelda certainly being no exception. “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,” Nintendo’s press release stated.
