Summary
The anticipated live-action adaptation ofThe Legend of Zeldais already in development. However, it took decades before it was greenlit and a former employee of Nintendo of America shared some backstory before the movie was approved.
The Legend of Zeldawas released in 1986 in Japan. It was a massive hit, and many showed interest in making a movie from the video game. However, Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo’s legendary game developer and the one behindSuper Mario, The Legend of ZeldaandStar Fox,wasn’t on board with bringing it to the big screen. But Miyamoto eventually changed his mind two years ago due to the success of another live-action movie.
Gail Tilden, a marketing manager and consultant who used to work at Nintendo of America, recounted her time with Nintendo when she appeared on theVideo Game History Hour podcast. According to her, many wanted to createThe Legend of Zeldamovie, but Miyamoto would always turn down the offer, even if a blockbuster director would do it. “People were always calling about doing a movie,” Tilden shared. She added:
You can imagine that the most common question is, ‘We’re calling, we’d like to do a Zelda movie.’ The answer was always no. Even I personally said, ‘Mr. Miyamoto, if Steven Spielberg himself wants to do a Zelda movie, what is the answer?’ He said, ‘No.’ So that was it. The answer was always no.
Miyamoto was probably adamant because the 1993 live-action adaptation ofSuper Mario Bros.was a major failure. The poor critical reception, box office failure and massive deviation from the source material led many to consider it one of the most infamous video game adaptations. The film only received a 29% score on Rotten Tomatoes and only made $38.9 million worldwide from a $48 million budget. It was a critical and commercial failure. However, Miyamoto eventually agreed to do a live-action adaptation ofThe Legend of Zeldafollowing the success ofThe Super Mario Bros. Movie(2023). The animated adventure comedy film drew mixed reactions from critics, but the audience loved it. It was also a commercial success, grossing $1.36 billion off a $100 million budget. Many loved the film because it was faithful to the source material. Following its success, Nintendo partnered with Sony to co-finance the Zelda movie, according toGamesRadar. Wes Ball, who helmed theMaze Runnermovies, is tapped to direct and Miyamoto is serving as one of the producers.
Thelive-action adaptation ofThe Legend of Zeldaexcites fans who have been waiting to see it on the big screen. However, it also elicited mixed reactions. Some hope it will be as great as the game, while others are concerned that it might deviate from the source material and misrepresent the characters they love. With proper casting and direction and a compelling storyline that is true to the material, the film could be a successful adaptation. At present, the project is still in its early stages of development. The production team is working on the script, and the release date was listed as 202x, suggesting that the film’s release would be in 2029 at the latest. However, hopefully, it will come out earlier than that.
