News Nintendo officially announces live-action Zelda film, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, directed by Wes Ball

[TheRealTalker]

I'd heard for a while Nintendo was keen on live action, but I'd always heard with Universal.

Nintendo is footing more than half the bill, they'll have almost full creative control here. Sony is basically just distributing.

They are probably using Sony equipment, studios, etc... (which is what I assume is the Sony financing bit beyond marketing and distribution).


It isn't the first time Sony collabs with others to fund projects. Most of their TV shows that they make they get streaming companies to pay some of the bills like with The Boys, or Cobra Kai, etc...

 

[Bokuringo]

Feels like Hollywood only has two actors, so it's either Holland or Pratt

Pratt as Link and Tom Holland as Zelda.

I hope not. I'm guessing they're going to go the young adult route. If they were going with a teen link than that Percy Jackson kid could be possible.

I didn't think of that. If they are going that route, he's actually an option.

I thought of Timothee Chalamet as alternative, but who knows. Maybe we get a Direct style announcement sooner than we think.

 

[Heron]

Holy shit at the news.

And holy shit at CVs of Avi Arad and Wes Ball. Not what I was expecting at all.

One hour ago a Switch 2 reveal was my most anticipated Nintendo announcement. Now I think it might be number 2 behind the inevitable cancellation of this project.

Seriously though:
Live-action
Sony Pictures involved
An almost exclusively Marvel-involved guy producing (and ex-IDF as the kicker lol)
Uninspiring director of teen action movies attached

Feels like it couldn't be worse.

When they announced Illumination was making Mario, I didn't like it but I thought "at least Illumination definitely knows how to make movies that the target audience likes". Here, though? Where's the hope here?

Who even knows what tone they'll be shooting for here, let alone what version of the story they'll tackle.

I hope the franchise will be able to recover from this

That's actually a much better way of putting my immediate thoughts into words.

 

[Xbro]

I'm not familiar with the track record of the director and producer. Anyone have insight?

 

[Regulus Tera]

The Mario movie is trash, but the one thing it absolutely nailed was the visual aesthetic. Going for live action for Zelda is just gonna rob it of any possible redeeming qualities.

It will probably make a billion, but it’s still gonna suck balls.

 

[Christo750]

My hope is that Miyamoto reigns in Arad's bad ideas. say what you will about the Mario movie but i think you very much felt Miyamoto's positive influence.

 

[SNP]

I recall this getting out not that long ago. Obviously not with all these specifics. Was that rumor denied by Nintendo at the time?

Edit: Also, live action Zelda doesn't sound great! So long as they don’t use the classic tunic it has a chance at not looking terrible…

Most living things in Zelda games aren’t human (hylian), so I’m curious how they approach CG here. Hyper realistic Zora and Goron designs sounds gross.

There was a Netflix Zelda series/movie that cancelled by Nintendo because the plan leaked.

Most recently is some "insider" MyTimeToShineHello or GFR (I think) who like to make engagement bait with Marvel, said Nintendo is making Zelda movie with Universal.

 

[Dark Cloud]

Damn they gonna get Danny Devito to play Tingle?

 

[Andre3333456]

I knew it would happen, if the live action Zelda film is successful, this could lead into multiple live action films based on Nintendo's realistic or/and anime franchises like Fire Emblem, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Xenoblade and more.

 

[YoboD]

Live action adaption is just such an instant hype killer for me.

 

[TreIII]

I’ll still watch it but live action will suck for this kind of IP.

I disagree. I agree with the notion that trying to take aim at the likes of Lord of the Rings is EXACTLY the type of thing Zelda should be doing, at least, assuming you want mainstream success in the movies. There's a reason a lot of us made jokes about how Legolas could've been Link himself, two decades ago. LOL

It's not going to be the 80s-style dark fantasy anime that I wanted, either, but at the very least, I'm willing to give it an open-mind. For now, at least.

Also, I'm expecting some nice diversity, since it's Nintendo's fantasy world and they can have as many people of color making up Hylians as they please.

 

[Onilink97]

Lord of the rings but zelda, do it! Gorons are essentially dwarves, give them Scottish accents, Zora's are High elves, upper class English accents. The Hylians are elf-like but a mix, so have a blend of various British accents. Link and Zelda should have fairly upper class English accents

 

[EvilChameleon]

I'll be optimistic about this. Live action doesn't immediately turn me off. Tom Holland playing Link, however, does.

 

[Kintah]

Looking at what Avi Arad worked on I can safely say that I have close to zero expectations on this being good.
But...
Looking at the reception (haven't seen them, yet) Wess Ball's Maze Runner movie had from "the establishment" (professional critics) despite it and it's two sequels being smash hits at the box office I can say that I probably like the guy. So maybe there is some hope after all.


EDIT: After actually reading the other comments, nah. For the LOVE of God please not Zendaya as Zelda and Holland as Link.

 

[Lit_bae]

I imagined that if a Zelda movie ever came to pass, it would have been a Ghibli-esque animation. I'm surprised and a little disappointed.

 

[Yavga]

It's a me-a, Link.

 

[shoptroll]

Eh. This is going to be like the Warcraft movie and I’ll gladly ignore it.

 

[Dark Cloud]

Why does the story have to be tied to a game? It’ll just be The Legend of Zelda with Ganondorf doing bad stuff. Link and Zelda will go on their adventure. It’ll be broad strokes for the series.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

If this ends up successful I hope they make it an anthology series with a new Link and Zelda for every entry.

 

[Heron]

The Mario movie will be hailed as a masterpiece compared to this.

I reckon Illumination delivered exactly the movie Nintendo wanted with Mario. From a branding and profit standpoint. Whether you liked the movie or not, that was two companies working together to completely nail the design brief and they got their rewards at the box office.

Will the same happen here? I find it impossible to imagine...

 

[Joy-Boy]

WELP, there it is!
We all knew it was coming, but Live Action is a suprise.
But already a director attached (guy did The Maze Runner movies), looks like it's full speed ahead

One Piece was proof that ANYTHING can work in Live Action if you get the right team and the right vision behind it. I have little doubt Nintendo had very careful consideration before giving this the green light.

Let em cook

 

[Lugia667]

This is BAD bad. Avi Arad is known for bullying cast and crew to force them to go against the source material. That paired with the Maze Runner director… I’m flabbergasted

he's not going to be able to bully Miyamoto and Nintendo

 

[Party Sklar]

The Rock won't be Ganondorf, he won't allow losing on screen lol

Mena Massoud as Ganondorf or nothing, honestly

 

[bathynomus]

things that could save this:

-new actors instead of big Hollywood names
-practical effects

 

[TreIII]

Why does the story have to be tied to a game? It’ll just be The Legend of Zelda with Ganondorf doing bad stuff. Link and Zelda will go on their adventure. It’ll be broad strokes for the series.

Yep.

At best, I think they could get away with broad strokes that give Link (and Zelda), plus a possible party of a rag-tag group, reason to meet, go on a quest together and stop Ganon.

Can I at least get a quality Blue Boar Transformation? PLEASE?!

 

[the_marmolade]

While some say going with Sony Pictures indicates bad blood between Nintendo and Universal. I think it has more to do with Avi Arad wanting to work with Sony due to the creative freedom he usually gets with them for good or worse.

 

[E.Gadd]

Ganondorf casting will make or break this

 

[SpaceGodzilla]

tom holland is trending #2 lol

 

[Mekanos]

Also with the strikes right now I don’t expect this to leave development for a long time. Same reason why we haven’t heard anything about more Nintendo/Illumination projects.

 

[touchfuzzy]

I only saw the first Maze Runner movie but remembered liking it. I'll see his upcoming Planet of the Apes movie too.

I hope this turns out, but my expectations are very low.

 

[Lugia667]

I can't wait for the "THEY MADE PRINCESS ZELDA A WOKE GIRLBOSS" outrage

 

[Dark Cloud]

things that could save this:

-new actors instead of big Hollywood names
-practical effects

Miyamoto isn’t going with new actors. They went full out with Mario movie. They’ll get big Hollywood actors for this too.

 

[SNP]

This is BAD bad. Avi Arad is known for bullying cast and crew to force them to go against the source material. That paired with the Maze Runner director… I’m flabbergasted

I know what you mean but this is Nintendo and Miyamoto.

They make Illumination didn't include even 1 fart joke in the movie...

 

[Heron]

Welp, guess I'm watching the Maze Runner tonight...

As for Arad, do we think this will be closer in quality to his Bratz (2007) production, or perhaps Robosapiens Rebooted (2013)? Being more serious, the quality of his Uncharted video game adaptation is probably the bar we're looking at here. And the most hopeful thing on his resume would be producer of Into the Spider-verse. But his live-action stuff is rough.

 

[King_Dodongo]

Why live action? The Mario Movie was amazing and I would have loved consistency with the NCU.

 

[Joy-Boy]

The Rock won't be Ganondorf, he won't allow losing on screen lol

That's why this film adapts the Hero Defeated Timeline

 

[Joe]

Imagine if the next Direct has no Switch 2 news but instead the big highlight is the cast announcement of this movie.

 

[Dark Cloud]

What about that guy who played in the Witcher show? Can’t he be Link

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

Ganondorf to be played by Persian actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

 

[Tyrien]

This will in no way tarnish the franchise so I'm all for seeing just how dumb this can be lol. Or maybe pleasantly surprising.
Thing with Zelda is they have to make a story this time that makes sense. shrug
It can't just be a highlight reel of all the games with a loose story attached.

 

[SNP]

Welp, guess I'm watching the Maze Runner tonight...

As for Arad, do we think this will be closer in quality to his Bratz (2007) production, or perhaps Robosapiens Rebooted (2013)? Being more serious, the quality of his Uncharted video game adaptation is probably the bar we're looking at here. And the most hopeful thing on his resume would be producer of Into the Spider-verse. But his live-action stuff is rough.

I mean, he on the Tobey's Spider-Man trilogy, the original X-Men too.

 

[Party Sklar]

things that could save this:

-practical effects

The Jim Henson company doing Gorons would instantly save this movie in my heart, you're absolutely right

 

[Machrider]

Nintendo x Sony, huh ... lol. Has to be a bit of a blow for Universal to miss out.

 

[Mekanos]

Miyamoto isn’t going with new actors. They went full out with Mario movie. They’ll get big Hollywood actors for this too.

Stunt casting for animated movies is nothing new and big actors don’t have to be tied down to months of shooting vs coming into a recording booth. The logistics for live action are pretty different.

Not saying they’ll cast completely new actors but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re mostly unknown.

 

[Lugia667]

Everytime a new movie is out we are gonna do the "This is going to be a dumpster fire" dance aren't we?

 

[RochHoch]

I hope Nintendo learns a valuable lesson when this turns out to be a trash fire

Not going with animation is a massive fucking mistake

 

[Kintah]

I mean, he on the Tobey's Spider-Man trilogy, the original X-Men too.

Tobey's Spidey is pretty much the only good exception in his resume for me. And I have seen most of his stuff it seems.

 

[the_marmolade]

 

[Dark Cloud]

Everytime a new movie is out we are gonna do the "This is going to be a dumpster fire" dance aren't we?

Get ready for when the Chibi Robo movie is announced and we’ll have to hear Tom Holland is playing Chibi

 

[Heron]

Seeing as Miyamoto-san is co-producer with Arad, the only way this movie works out is if Miyamoto truly is a multi-disciplinary genius. Which, you know, maybe...

I mean, he on the Tobey's Spider-Man trilogy, the original X-Men too.

Sure, those movies are well-loved, I get it. Fair enough. I'm just not a comic books or cape-movie guy, so for me to see that be 90% of his work was a major oof.