Sony is partnering in the financing of an upcoming film, with notable figures Avi Arad and Shigeru Miyamoto taking on production roles, and Wes Ball serving as the director.
Nintendo is finally making a live-action Legend of Zelda movie, after years of hopes and months of rumors.
The news was shared today in an official post to Nintendo investors, with few details. The film is being produced by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, chairman of Arad Productions and former founder and CEO of Marvel Studios. Sony is partnering
Arad has been credited as a producer on numerous successful films over the years, most recently including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Into the Spider-Verse, No Way Home, Far From Home, and Homecoming. He’s also worked on upcoming films including Kraven the Hunter and the Borderlands movie.
Wes Ball, the director behind “The Maze Runner,” has been confirmed as the director for the upcoming project. Sony Pictures Entertainment will take charge of theatrical distribution and is also collaborating with Nintendo in co-financing the movie. Additionally, Derek Connolly, known for his work on “Jurassic World,” has been tapped to write the screenplay.
While the official press release suggests that the project is still in its early development stages, a recent tweet or social media post by Shigeru Miyamoto hints that the project has been in the works in some capacity for “many years now.”
At the start of the year, there were swirling rumors about the possibility of a live-action movie adaptation of “The Legend of Zelda.” However, the scuttlebutt on the streets of Hyrule suggested that Universal or even Illumination might be the studios involved, rather than Sony. These rumors gained momentum due to the developers at Tears of the Kingdom, who openly expressed their “interest” in bringing the world of Zelda to the big screen, especially following the success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” earlier in the year. Nonetheless, as Eiji Aonuma emphasized at the time, a mere expression of interest doesn’t necessarily translate into a project coming to fruition.
Additionally, it’s worth noting that there were reports of a Netflix series based on “The Legend of Zelda,” but it was allegedly canceled after it leaked on the internet.