Nintendo Announces Live-Action Zelda Movie

Nintendo and Arad Productions Inc. have announced the start of development on a live-action Legend of Zelda movie. The movie will see Nintendo legend and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto return to the role of producer following The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which was released earlier this year. He is joined in the producer role by Avi Arad, who has produced films like 2004's Spider-Man 2, 2008's Iron Man, and 2023's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Arad has also produced a couple of video game adaptations including Uncharted in 2022 and Borderlands, which is slated for a 2024 release.

Wes Ball, who directed the Maze Runner movies as well as Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, has signed on to direct the film The movie will be co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment (with more than 50 percent being handled by Nintendo), with the theatrical distribution being handled by Sony Pictures Entertainment. 

This announcement follows the runaway success of Nintendo and Universal's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide at the box office. In March, I asked Miyamoto if he had any other Nintendo franchises he'd like to see make the jump to the silver screen through a film adaptation. "You probably know that we have Nintendo Pictures now as a group," he said. "Whenever we create games, that’s one form of content. And when we create animation, that’s another form of content. And we want to continue to expand the amount of content that we can produce. In terms of announcing or sharing anything, I try to hold off until there’s something really good and enjoyable. So, there’s probably nothing to announce in the near future, so I ask you to put all your focus on this movie currently."

No additional information, including the release window, for the live-action Legend of Zelda movie is available at this time.