Last November, Nintendo officially announced that a live-action movie based on The Legend of Zelda was in development and that Wes Ball would direct. Ball’s credits include The Maze Runner film trilogy and the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Now, Ball has given fans a little more information about what they may expect from the Zelda movie. “I have this awesome idea,” Ball told Total Film. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long freakin’ time of how cool a Zelda movie would be…”
The filmmaker added, “I want to [fulfill] people’s greatest desires. I know it’s important, this [Zelda] franchise, to people, and I want it to be a serious movie. A real movie that can give people an escape.”
Ball said the driving force behind the Zelda movie is his desire to “live in that world. That’s the thing I want to try to create—it’s got to feel like something real—something serious and cool, but fun and whimsical.”
Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director and Fellow of Nintendo, and Avi Arad, Chairman of Arad Productions Inc., will produce the highly anticipated movie. The film will be produced by Nintendo and Arad Productions Inc.
Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. will co-finance The Legend of Zelda movie, with Nintendo financing more than 50% of the project. Sony Pictures will distribute the film to theaters worldwide.
When the project was announced, Nintendo said: “By producing visual content of Nintendo IP by itself, Nintendo is creating new opportunities for people from around the world to access the world of entertainment which Nintendo has built through different means apart from its dedicated game consoles.”
The company added, “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.”
Nintendo previously teamed up with Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures on The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which was the second-biggest movie of 2023 behind Barbie, grossing nearly $1.362 billion worldwide. The movie earned $574.9 million in North America and $786.9 million in international markets.
The Super Mario Bros Movie was directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel. The film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad.
They were joined by Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
Earlier this month, Illumination and Nintendo announced that they are producing a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. that is planned to be released on April 3, 2026.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.