Here’s a bit of a surprise mid-week announcement, with Nintendo having just confirmed that it’s working on a live-action movie based on its iconic The Legend of Zelda franchise.
It made the announcement quite plainly, in a post on the official Japanese website, where it was revealed that the movie is being produced in collaboration between Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad (Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse, Uncharted, Kraven the Hunter) and will be directed by Wes Ball.
The film is being co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment, which goes some way to explaining how rumours of a Zelda film project cropped up earlier this year with The Super Mario Bros. Movie production company Illumination denying any involvement.
The release from Nintendo reads:
Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto Minami-ku; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, “Nintendo” hereafter) today announced that it will develop a live-action film of The Legend of Zelda.
The film will be produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director and Fellow of Nintendo and Avi Arad, Chairman of Arad Productions Inc., who has produced many mega hit films.
The film will be produced by Nintendo and Arad Productions Inc., and directed by Wes Ball. The film will be co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., with more than 50% financed by Nintendo. The theatrical distribution of the film will be done worldwide by Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
By producing visual contents of Nintendo IP by itself, Nintendo is creating new opportunities to have people from around the world to access the world of entertainment which Nintendo has built, through different means apart from its dedicated game consoles.
By getting deeply involved in the movie production with the aim to put smiles on everyone’s faces through entertainment, Nintendo will continue its efforts to produce unique entertainment and deliver it to as many people as possible.
I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me, and we have now officially started the development of the film with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it. [2]https://t.co/2H9lzzS5Pv
— ??????? (@Nintendo) November 7, 2023
Hopefully we’ll get to see more on this soon enough.
