The Legend of Zelda director Wes Ball promises that the upcoming live-action video game adaptation will be nothing less than stellar.
"We're working on it. I think it's gonna be great. Fans are gonna be happy. Legend of Zelda, to me, is one of the most important things ever in my life. You know, next to Star Wars," Ball told The Direct. "I've played Legend of Zelda throughout my childhood into my adulthood. You know what I mean? I am a fan. I am a fellow fan. I will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that it is the movie we all hope it will be."
The first Legend of Zelda game was released in 1986, with the newest game in the franchise coming out in 2023. The series, set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, follows an elf-like, sword-wielding hero named Link as he saves Princess Zelda from an evil demon king named Ganon. An American cartoon series based on the franchise hit television in 1989 (and went on to spawn several timeless internet memes i.e. "Well excuse me, Princess!"), with a number of novels and manga being released throughout the years.
- A Zelda movie is finally happening, but Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto used to adamantly oppose the idea even "if Steven Spielberg himself" wanted to do it
- As Sonic the Hedgehog 3 tears up the box office, its writers now want to adapt The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: "We're putting it out there in the world"
A computer-animated Zelda movie was pitched in 2007, but Nintendo supposedly said no due to the commercial failure of the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. movie (which I still think is pretty great, okay). It wasn't until the success of the animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring Chris Pratt-io, that a live-action Legend of Zelda was finally greenlit.
The Legend of Zelda movie does not yet have a release date. For more, check out the ever-growing list of upcoming video game movies, or, skip right to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.
