Nintendo reveals live-action Zelda film with Shigeru Miyamoto as producer

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: Nintendo at long last has formally announced plans to develop a movie based on The Legend of Zelda. The live-action flick is being overseen by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto, the mastermind behind some of Nintendo's top franchises including Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

On X, Miyamoto said he has been working with Avi Arad of Arad Productions Inc. on the idea for many years.

The film will be jointly produced by Nintendo and Arad Productions, and will be directed by Wes Ball. Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment will co-finance production, with the former footing the majority of the bill. Sony will handle theatrical distribution worldwide, we are told.

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. [1]

– 任天å Âæ ªå¼Âä¼Â社 (@Nintendo) November 7, 2023

Miyamoto helped produce The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the blockbuster animated film that hit theaters back in April. That movie became the highest-grossing film based on a video game after just one week, and has grossed roughly $1.36 billion to date. It cost $100 million to make.

The Legend of Zelda dates back to the mid-80s and is among Nintendo's richest IPs. The original is often considered one of the greatest video games ever released and helped establish core elements that would become commonplace in action-adventure and role-playing titles. The latest game in the series, Tears of the Kingdom, launched on May 12 of this year and has already sold 19.5 million copies.

With nearly two dozen mainline games in the series, Nintendo will have no shortage of storylines to pull from. That said, we imagine they'll stick to the basics and tell the tale of Link having to rescue Princess Zelda from the evil Ganon.

Miyamoto said development of the Zelda movie is now under way, but plot and casting details are not yet known.

Live-action game-to-film adaptations can be tricky, but we've seen some impress examples as of late. The Sonic the Hedgehog movies both did well and the most recent, Five Nights at Freddy's, is off to a solid start after just a couple of weeks.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100780-nintendo-reveals-live-action-zelda-film-shigeru-miyamoto.html

 

[m4a4]

Eh, should've done a Super Mario. Not everything needs to be live action, especially the more fantastical games...

 

[BakaRed77]

I bet this will be awful. Let's hope I'm wrong. Maybe they should let IGN handle it. That April Fools trailer years ago wasn't half bad.

 

[stewi0001]

I bet this will be awful. Let's hope I'm wrong. Maybe they should let IGN handle it. That April Fools trailer years ago wasn't half bad.

I hope it is awful, but that is because I am not too happy with Nintendo these days.

 

[Zsoltblabla]

I am sure it will be great. Nintendo will put in the necessary care and love they always do with everything they do. The Mario movie was a great example of this careful process.
Nintendo is not disney. They don't try to make a quick buck at the expanse of everything there is.
They are not poisoned by woke agendas.
I am sure it will be a decent production.

 

[Zsoltblabla]

I hope it is awful, but that is because I am not too happy with Nintendo these days.

… care to explain why not???

 

[stewi0001]

… care to explain why not???

... not really but I will try to. First off, I grew up with the live action Mario Bros movie. The TV series wasn't too bad, but my memory could be faulty there.
- Video games being turned into movies seem to either be really good or really bad, so that is always a 50:50 risk right there.
- There is always the risk of Johnny Depp being in the movie and then the whole movie ends up revolving around his character. (I added this one more for comical value)
- Characters personalities can become altered from what you are used to in a game to appease "political correctness"
- Disney is milking the crap out of anything they have that is popular. ( just agreeing with you on that point)
My biggest issue with Nintendo, besides them screwing myself and other over multiple times in the past, is how aggressive they are being with their legal team. This does not tie directly with making a movie but I stated that already.

 

[bondflavor]

There is no way this won't be a disaster.

I hope it is awful, but that is because I am not too happy with Nintendo these days.

You and me both, as far as being not too happy with Nintendo lately. Unfortunately, this will likely be both awful and a smashing box office success.