After the Super Mario Bros. live-action film bombed in 1993, Nintendo kept its top video game franchises away from Hollywood for decades. But with the runaway success of the animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo will unleash its other top title upon movie audiences. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Nintendo and Sony Pictures are planning a live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda.
While Sony and Nintendo are rivals when it comes to gaming consoles, the two companies have apparently been making plans for the Zelda film for a long time. As part of the announcement, Nintendo and Sony revealed that Wes Ball, the director of The Maze Runner trilogy, is attached to direct Zelda. Ball’s next movie, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, is slated to hit theaters on May 24, 2024.
The Legend of Zelda video game series was created by Shigeru Miyamoto in 1986, and the action role-playing game quickly became one of the company’s most popular titles. Several sequels have been produced over the subsequent decades, with the most recent game, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, arriving earlier this year.
Miyamoto will produce the film on behalf of Nintendo alongside Avi Arad and his company, Arad Productions. Sony and Nintendo will co-finance the movie as well. On the official Nintendo Twitter account, Miyamoto confirmed the news and said that he personally asked Arad to produce the film. Arad is the former co-owner of Marvel who produced or executive produced every Spider-Man movie to date.
For now, there’s no time frame for when The Legend of Zelda will hit theaters. But if it’s finished before 2026, then it could be released just in time for the franchise’s 40th anniversary.
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