Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Zelda Live-Action Film Announced

The Legend of Zelda logo in grey

Nintendo has just published a news release stating that a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie is in the works. It will be produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, directed by Wes Ball, and distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Other than the irony that a Nintendo film gets co-financed by their biggest competitor, I can't help but feel skeptical about this. Avi Arad and Wes Ball don't have any movies to their name that I like and I don't like the idea of a live-action film in general. I would be much more comfortable with an animated movie...

The Super Mario Bros. Movie was fantastic and I had a lot of fun watching it, where I give Miyamoto the benefit of the doubt that he knows what he's doing here. As a fan of One Piece, I was also positively surprised by its live-action adaption on Netflix, even though it's a bit "cringe" in certain aspects. So, I'm not throwing my hands up in horror just yet, but still I'm cautiously pessimistic here. Better expect nothing than to be disappointed...

My personal dream scenario would have been a Studio Ghibli film. Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were heavily inspired by their works, where this could have gone full circle. Getting a Hollywood production instead has me more worried than excited, because I'm having a hard time imagining anything good coming out of this.

It's also interesting how Nintendo announces this in such a dry and businesslike manner. I suppose they know that this will get leaked the second they start filming, so they might as well just be upfront about it and don't even wait for the next Nintendo Direct. But maybe they are also looking for reactions here... And I'm not willing to give this my thumbs up just yet.

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