Sony Live Action Zelda Movie

[Autbot_Benz]

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.

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2023/231108.html

[IMJ]

Given Sony's track record, staying the course even through the woke $#!( period, given the enduring nature of the I.P., given that it's never been on the big screen before, and given it's story and visual appeal; my knee jerk reaction is that this could make a f'n fortune in theaters.

[Andrew NDB]

I was going to say, "huh, in ADDITION to the Illumination CGI movie?" but I just noticed that movie was just a FAKE rumor.

https://movieweb.com/illumination-zelgie-movie-rumor-clarify/

[drgon78]

I hope we are still getting an animated movie.

[Powder]

This is going to be horrific. Not happy at all. TLOZ is very sacred to me, & I have zero faith in these people to do it justice.

[Andrew NDB]

I hope we are still getting an animated movie.

Apparently it was a fake story to begin with. So there is no "still."

This is going to be horrific. Not happy at all. TLOZ is very sacred to me, & I have zero faith in these people to do it justice.

Shigeru Miyamoto there to safeguard things and presumably serve in the same capacity as Nintendo at large did with the Super Mario Bros. movie, as in being there to say "NO!" to any nonsense, should give some confidence. Avi Arad as a producer shouldn't give confidence OR a lack of confidence (he's produced both amazing and epic movies as well as HORRIFIC movies over the past 20 or so years).

[Cowabung-Gal]

Shigeru Miyamoto there to safeguard things and presumably serve in the same capacity as Nintendo at large did with the Super Mario Bros. movie, as in being there to say "NO!" to any nonsense, should give some confidence. Avi Arad as a producer shouldn't give confidence OR a lack of confidence (he's produced both amazing and epic movies as well as HORRIFIC movies over the past 20 or so years).

Well, one thing’s for sure, we won’t get a black-washed Link or Queen Zelda as long as Nintendo keeps laying down the law.

https://betterlivingthroughbeowulf.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The-Lord-Of-The-Rings-The-Rings-Of-Power-Has-People-Of-Colour-Get-Over-It.jpeg

Meanwhile, it is rumored that Michael B. Jordan is going to play Hercules in the Disney live-action remake…

Disney will never learn :roll:

[KROW]

This is going to be horrific. Not happy at all. TLOZ is very sacred to me, & I have zero faith in these people to do it justice.

Shigeru Miyamoto there to safeguard things and presumably serve in the same capacity as Nintendo at large did with the Super Mario Bros. movie, as in being there to say "NO!" to any nonsense, should give some confidence. Avi Arad as a producer shouldn't give confidence OR a lack of confidence (he's produced both amazing and epic movies as well as HORRIFIC movies over the past 20 or so years).

Yeah, with Shiggy involved there should be some thread of hope to hang onto, though Arad's more hit-and-miss.

This is something I didn't think I'd see at all, instead feeling I'd have to relegate myself to the old cartoon and retro commercial. I wonder where in the timeline it'll take place.

[Sumac]

I am not sure, why they even decided to go with a live action as opposed to an animated movie.

I mean, they already have style and models - just rerender Breath of the Wild stuff at higher resolution and there is your style for an animated movie. I am simplifying things, of course, but I feel like making a live-action TLOZ will be much more bother than just working with stuff they already have.

And from what I've seen script writer and Sony involvement do not inspire confidence. Nintendo overseeing production is not a guarantee of the quality - they were on board with OG Mario Bros. movie, so who knows what they are smoking now. Maybe they think TLOZ is too big too fall?

[CyberCubed]

Ganondorf is already "black" and "middle eastern" so they don't have to make a black Link or Zelda.

But yeah this should of been animated. An anime-inspired Zelda movie would have been the ideal way to do it as a whole.

[Andrew NDB]

I am not sure, why they even decided to go with a live action as opposed to an animated movie.

I think it's much more ballsy. And the potential to be something much more special than just some animated thing.

[Sumac]

Ganondorf is already "black" and "middle eastern" so they don't have to make a black Link or Zelda.
But he is a villain, which means SJW scum gonna cry "how dare you to make the only "black" character in the game evil!! That's racisms!!!". Never mind that Ganondorf is not Black and more like dark middle eastern, if we go by comparison to a real world.

Not that it helps since SJWtards see everyone darker than White and regular Asians as Black, unless they were told not to.

I wonder how they gonna handle Gerudos - a race of Middle Eastern Amazonian women (and women only)...

But generally, I am surprised by this decision making: one would thought that after success of Mario movie, Nintendo will opt to do things the safest way and just farm TLOZ to Illumination, without risking to anger fans by making it a "live action" (for what its worth this days, when everything is CGI anyway).

But they decided to risk it. I wonder why?

[The Deadman]

If there's another animated Nintendo movie, it's the inevitable Mario sequel or a Donkey Kong movie. Pretty sure theyve wanted to do something live action worthy with Zelda for a while.

[Andrew NDB]

If there's another animated Nintendo movie, it's the inevitable Mario sequel or a Donkey Kong movie. Pretty sure theyve wanted to do something live action worthy with Zelda for a while.

Zelda is definitely the Nintendo property that lends itself best to live action, particularly in a post-LotR, post-GoT landscape.

Followed by Metroid. :) Live action Metroid. Hell yeah.

[Mad Dog McMutt]

I think it would be awesome seeing them use the plot of Ocarina of Time because that game had the best story line in my opinion.

[Coola Yagami]

Zelda is definitely the Nintendo property that lends itself best to live action, particularly in a post-LotR, post-GoT landscape.

Followed by Metroid. :) Live action Metroid. Hell yeah.

I mean... as long as Samus isn't a woke feminist with the 'mental illness' side-shave haircut.

[Andrew NDB]

I mean... as long as Samus isn't a woke feminist with the 'mental illness' side-shave haircut.

God please, anything but that haircut.

[DarkFell]

If a Legend of Zelda movie ever gets made, it better do right by the fans.

[Andrew NDB]

No matter what game it ends up adapting or amalgamizing, I'd want these boxes checked:

* Link has to recover pieces of the Tri-Force.

* Link has to fight and defeat Ganon.

* Link has to go into at least a couple dungeons along the way and improve his arsenal.

* Set it in a non-post-apocalyptic Hyrule. Let's see the kingdom and villages still thriving, for the most part.

* Link and Zelda actually kissing.

* Link has to encounter at least one of those octo things that shoot rocks at you from the water.

That's it. That's all I need to see. Also, it'd be neat to see at least some of the other kingdoms out there (the Zoras, etc.).

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

This... is a wait and see thing. Miyamoto's involved, and for that I will give it a chance. One thing I'm glad about that everyone else probably hates; it seems likely with this news that there will be no Nintendo 'cinematic universe', thank the Triforce!

[Andrew NDB]

They're going for a "Miyazaki-like" live-action story:

https://www.darkhorizons.com/live-action-zelda-to-be-miyazaki-esque/

[Sumac]

It gives some confidence...

[Andrew NDB]

A trilogy?

https://www.darkhorizons.com/nintendo-planning-zelda-movie-trilogy/

[Wildcat]

Well I’ve never really been into Zelda. Just played the original on the NES mini...not even growing up. Honestly did not think it was very fun. I have the SNES mini too but haven’t played Link to Past. I think I’d like the 3D ones.

I will say it’s highly suspicious they scheduled it alongside Sonic 4 :lol: but we know Paramount isn’t afraid of competition with big family franchises so that’s not changing unless it was for some other reason.

[ResidentEvil7]

The original Legend Of Zelda for the NES in 1986 was one of a few classic games the whole family liked to play and watch together. Just something about that game attracted all of us.

Back in the day when I was a young kid, I was an unbeatable NES, Genesis, SNES gamer. I kicked serious ass against my family and friends. I didn't know it then, but maybe it was because of my autistic symptoms. I had to be because how else did I become so good at games that no one I knew beat me but watched me play to get some strategies?

[Andrew NDB]

They're going with a transsexual actor for Princess Zelda. Maybe.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/zelda-lanterns-consider-schafer-linney/

[Coola Yagami]

They're going with a transsexual actor for Princess Zelda. Maybe.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/zelda-lanterns-consider-schafer-linney/

oh well. Nice while it lasted. You know this is going to cause outrage, controversy, the movie to bomb and the movie people to call the loyal Zelda fanbase a bunch of bigots.

[sdp]

That's great forward thinking casting. I mean how else would you interpret Sheik otherwise in the second movie and have it be believable to the audience that its a man?

[IMJ]

"The Legend of Gender"

[Andrew NDB]

That's great forward thinking casting. I mean how else would you interpret Sheik otherwise in the second movie and have it be believable to the audience that its a man?

I don't think a plot twist that occurred in one out of the twenty Zelda games out there is a good reason to be looking at transsexuals for Princess Zelda.

[Wildcat]

Like I said never been into this franchise but she does resemble Zelda. It’s not a bad choice. Saw a clip of her talking about it. If it wasn’t stated I doubt I would have known she was trans. Some people transition better than others...wasn’t sure how to word that without coming off offensive. Haha, it’s true though.

[Autbot_Benz]

Out of all the movie studios why would Miyamoto want Sony to do Zelda. Has he seen Sony’s track record as of late?

[Andrew NDB]

I'm sure Nintendo retains full veto power over every aspect of it. Like with the SMB movie. So we'll see how "progressive" they're willing to let Sony go.

[CyberCubed]

The biggest problem is the movie is live action and not animated or CG. No idea why they went with this route, live-action Zelda is just going to be compared with Game of Thrones or other fantasy movies, and Zelda just doesn't have a deep enough story for a movie to do that.

All they had to do was make a Zelda in anime-style or CG and it would have been fine.

[IMJ]

Just know that when Link finally rescues Zelda and goes to kiss her, that later on off-camera he either throws a fit when he finally flips that pink dress up, or he gums it down and winds up tickling some D.

But one way or the other, nobody in Hyrule OR the audience will know.

[ZariusTwo]

Anyone who says "Excuuuuusee me princess" isn't remotely straight to begin with:P

[Andrew NDB]

The biggest problem is the movie is live action and not animated or CG. No idea why they went with this route, live-action Zelda is just going to be compared with Game of Thrones or other fantasy movies, and Zelda just doesn't have a deep enough story for a movie to do that.

All they had to do was make a Zelda in anime-style or CG and it would have been fine.

I'm thrilled they're going live action and not something animated. It just means it will be held to a higher standard.

[sdp]

All they had to do was make a Zelda in anime-style or CG and it would have been fine.
Imagi who made the TMNT movie actually pitched a Zelda CG movie to Nintendo (https://miscrave.com/articles/zelda-movie-imagi/)
Anyone who says "Excuuuuusee me princess" isn't remotely straight to begin with:P
I actually hope they have that line in the movie. Crossing my fingers someone sneaks it in there after they saw how successful the Super Mario Bros show references were online.

I don't think a plot twist that occurred in one out of the twenty Zelda games out there is a good reason to be looking at transsexuals for Princess Zelda.

You're kidding yourself if you don't think the movie will be heavily influenced either by Ocarina of Time and/or Breath of the Wild.

If I were to guess, it'll be an original story set up to be a trilogy. A high chance of the Ocarina being in the movies, child to adult link happening in the movie in some way (flashbacks or something). Link will be wearing blue and no hat.
Zelda will be a hero and not a damsel in distress.

[Coola Yagami]

Zelda will be a hero and not a damsel in distress.

Plus apparently, Zelda will be packin'. She might be even bigger than Link.

[Andrew NDB]

If I were to guess, it'll be an original story set up to be a trilogy. A high chance of the Ocarina being in the movies, child to adult link happening in the movie in some way (flashbacks or something). Link will be wearing blue and no hat.
Zelda will be a hero and not a damsel in distress.

I think you're right that it'll be an original story set up to be a trilogy, and maybe there's an Ocarina. Epona, of course. Navi, it's also possible. But that's probably about it. It'll be a big Link vs. Ganon thing with a general "landscape" somewhere around Zelda 1 and Link to the Past. Then part 2, it'll be something new. Maybe they go "weird" with part 2 like a Link's Awakening type adventure, then part 3 will be the big finale with Ganon... so maybe some hodgepodge take on the Banishing War or something more definitive we've never seen in the games before.

The Zelda games don't really lend themselves to continuity. And there's rarely ever been a straight sequel. If Nintendo is super interested in this Zelda movie being "canon" (and they might), then it'll just be some other Link we've never seen before.

[CyberCubed]

That casting is just a rumor for Zelda anyway, nothing is official yet.

[sdp]

Zelda:
"Link, I have the master sword. Come hold it. Release its power."
Link:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FL8F3JiVcAcI6Be.jpg

[neatoman]

Zelda:
"Link, I have the master sword. Come hold it. Release its power."
Link:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FL8F3JiVcAcI6Be.jpg

Reminds me of this:
0m9QUoW5KnY

[ranger_scout]

They're going with a transsexual actor for Princess Zelda. Maybe.

https://www.darkhorizons.com/zelda-lanterns-consider-schafer-linney/

Haven't film studios learned that casting far-left activists like Schafer's 'Hunger Games' co-star Rachel Zegler makes you lose money at the box office? Zegler and Schafer share the same views.

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/euphoria-star-hunter-schafer-arrested-nyc-protest-support-palestinians-rcna140939

https://www.pedestrian.tv/entertainment/rachel-zegler-snow-white-palestine-post-disney/

[Andrew NDB]

"Cease Fire Now." What an idiot.

[ranger_scout]

The film's release has been postponed until May 7, 2027 due to production reasons.

https://deadline.com/2025/06/legend-of-zelda-movie-wes-ball-1235596216/

[Andrew NDB]

"Production reasons" really doesn't mean anything. It's not even really IN production, yet.

[IMJ]

"Production reasons" really doesn't mean anything. It's not even really IN production, yet.

:lol: "Production reasons".

[ranger_scout]

Producers are apparently looking for actors age 16-23 to play Link and Zelda. So, Schaefer is likely out of the running.

https://www.superherohype.com/news/606035-legend-of-zelda-live-action-movie-hunter-schafer-cast

[sdp]

I really hope they choose someone very young looking, so he can resemble young link best even if only in the first movie. If they do make a trilogy, he'd likely look much older by the third, which is fine.
I'd sacrifice having Zelda with a master sword between her legs if it meant that Link gets to wear his green tunic. I hate his hatless blue BOTW look.

[IMJ]

This is cool, but unless they go as deep and embracing as Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings with the world, I can't help but feel that this would make for a better animated movie than anything.

I'd sacrifice having Zelda with a master sword between her legs if it meant that Link gets to wear his green tunic.

Waits for the outrage against "misogyny" for that one. But it's selectively flung here, so maybe you won't experience it?

[sdp]

Bo Bragason will play Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth will play Link.

[ZariusTwo]

Here's the 'Link':):P

https://variety.com/2025/film/global/legend-of-zelda-movie-cast-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth-1236462236/

[ranger_scout]

I like Benjamin Evan Ainsworth in the films I've seen him in. I'm not familiar with Bo Bragason, but she does look the part. I hope people don't complain about Link not having blond hair.

[ZariusTwo]

I hope people don't complain about Link not having blond hair.

He's Super Show Link!



https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wlj5kUXEeTg/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHOBIACwAOKAgwIABABGHIgVCg1MA8=&rs=AOn4CLCNkhUM0Ix_5nHzdEcS9-lQNHTjFA

[Andrew NDB]

Looks great.

I hope people don't complain about Link not having blond hair.

You realize they can fix that, right? And in multi-million dollar movies they tend to spring for the $20 hair dye if need be.

[ranger_scout]

Looks great.



You realize they can fix that, right? And in multi-million dollar movies they tend to spring for the $20 hair dye if need be.

Many people didn't like how Astrid in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon had brown hair instead of blonde. However, Universal kept it the way it was. They've already released photos of Zelda and Link in costume, so maybe they will leave his hair the way it is.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Gv-Q9rwWwAA5QB9?format=jpg&name=small

[sdp]

Link is brunette or blonde depending on the game. It's fine.
What I'm worried about Links outfit not having a hat and him not wearing green which are very much possible choices.Breath of the Wild ruined his iconic look and since it was such a popular game they could use that look forever now.
I'd also like Zelda to have Elvish ears.

[Andrew NDB]

They've already released photos of Zelda and Link in costume, so maybe they will leave his hair the way it is.

That's them in costume? No, it's not. They didn't even give them the ears or anything.

[CyberCubed]

Link's hair will absolutely be either light brown or blondeish. And yeah they don't even have elf ears in those pics so those are not shots in costume.

Most likely Zelda will travel with Link in the movie and not be captured for 90% of the movie like the games. Interesting enough the Zelda actress is a few years older than Link. I hope they show them both use all the items from the games together.

[ranger_scout]

That's them in costume? No, it's not. They didn't even give them the ears or anything.

Link's hair will absolutely be either light brown or blondeish. And yeah they don't even have elf ears in those pics so those are not shots in costume.

The articles about the casting including Variety's say they are in costume.

[Andrew NDB]

The articles about the casting including Variety's say they are in costume.

Maybe they handed them a couple of tunics for the photo op but that's it. And "in costume" isn't the same thing as hair & makeup.

[CyberCubed]

The articles about the casting including Variety's say they are in costume.

Guy, they look nothing like Zelda or Link in those pics. You really think Zelda is going to walk around looking like a schoolgirl?

Link is not going to have black hair in the movie. And once again there are no elf ears, you really think they're not going to give them pointed ears when Miyamoto and Nintendo are overlooking the film?

[sdp]

Link is wearing green thank God

[CyberCubed]

My guess is they'll have Link and Zelda travel together, not the usual Zelda is captured/kidnapped/in hiding for 90% of the movie till the end. No way is Zelda going to be a damsel in distress or get little screentime.

For Ganondorf, they need to cast some tall arabic/muslim man. It would do, since the Gerudo are largely based on the sand people in the middle east. In the newer Zelda games, the Gerudo are even more stylized with arabic clothing, veils, hairstyle, and look like a mix of 10 different middle eastern countries combined into one. Ganondorf isn't black, he should be a muslim.

[Barkworm]

The articles about the casting including Variety's say they are in costume.

It says "seems-to-be".

[sdp]

I'll go ahead and do some rampant speculation before more stuff comes out and see what I end up being right in:
-It'll set up a trilogy, each movie will be named after each triforce, so the first title could be something like "The tree of courage" or whatever
-Ganondorf will appear but Ganon won't show up until the third movie
-Miyamoto will cameo in the movie
-We'll see story bits from every Zelda, so it'll be super contradicting to the games lore
-to expand on the above, it'll do a greatest hits of some of the best moments in all of the games (pulling the master sword, deku tree dying, the dark world, etc)
-The two games that will get most representation will clearly be OOT & BOTW
-There'll be a Majora's Mask somewhere as an easter egg and fans will speculate, make 2 hour video essays about it, but it won't actually have anything to do with the trilogy and was only there as an easter egg
-Mother Fcking Tingle will be in the movie as a small cameo
-Brain rot boomers will complain that the movie is woke, especially after some actor makes some pol statement
-There'll be some very controversial decision, like either making Zora's evil or some stupid lore thing that doesn't really matter that will make fans fume for months
-There will be a brand new original character made for the movie that will be a main character and take tons of screen time and people will automatically hate him (Think of Cole Young from the Mortal Kombat movie)
-"Excuuuuse me princess" is a line that will make it to the final cut of the film
-It'll be good since Miyamoto is supervising
-The Sheikah's backstory will be that they committed genocide on the gerudo
-the gerudo will be brown and people will complain (either because it's racist or because it's woke)
-chickens will attack Link at some point
-why are you still reading this
-Epona will meet atreyu's fate during the trilogy
-Link will have a love triangle and not with Zelda
-Zora's domain can be unfrozen and you'll be able to go to the temple of light

My guess is they'll have Link and Zelda travel together, not the usual Zelda is captured/kidnapped/in hiding for 90% of the movie till the end. No way is Zelda going to be a damsel in distress or get little screentime.

I don't think they'll find each other until the third arc of the movie, but she won't be a princess waiting to be rescued. She'll likely have her own quest she's going through and eventually meet up with Link.

[Andrew NDB]

We'll either get Ganondorf becoming Ganon at the end or that'll be a mid credits sequence. For sure. They will want to put most of their toys on the table right away with this one.

Not really worried about it being woke because Nintendo doesn't give a f*** about that stuff BUT I'm sure we'll still get a bit of Zelda herself with some girl boss moments. Like, doing the Sheik thing with Zelda might be too tempting to pass up when there's that precedent for it.

[ranger_scout]

The first OFFICIAL look has now been released. They have the ears, hair, and everything. I can only post the article's URL but not the photos.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/11/official-zelda-movie-photos-give-us-our-best-look-yet-at-link-and-zelda

[sdp]

Perfect, i hope Link wears his hat at some point in the movie even if brief. To think we almost had a Princess with a master sword in her pants.

[sdp]

I'm not watching a movie with 2 white leads, it's 2025 we're so over this.

[nidza_maj2000]

So I am really excited for this movie, Nintendo is really protective for Legend of Zelda franchise so we should not expect them to be transported to modern world like Sonic and his friends were in anime and Sonic movies, it works for Sonic franchise but for Legend of Zelda franchise it would not work because this is Medieval time setting franchise

[Andrew NDB]

It's not out until May 2027? Yeesh.

[Coola Yagami]

So I am really excited for this movie, Nintendo is really protective for Legend of Zelda franchise so we should not expect them to be transported to modern world like Sonic and his friends were in anime and Sonic movies, it works for Sonic franchise but for Legend of Zelda franchise it would not work because this is Medieval time setting franchise

Sonic works better for this since the actual games (not the comics or cartoons) either take place in our world or don't at the same time. And then the Adventure series took place in actual cities with humans and such. Legend of Zelda only takes place in either Hyrule or some other fictional land, but clearly never our world, at all.

[sdp]

It's not out until May 2027? Yeesh.

I'd rather they take their time, it's basically only 2 years from now. 3 years between movies is fine for me. 2 can sometimes lead to rushing it and 4 is just too much to wait. But...we're basically getting a new Nintendo movie every year and if they do well we'll be getting more, but I don't want them to overdo it like say marvel and the MCU

2026 Mario Movie 2
2027 Zelda Movie
2028 Donkey Kong Movie rumored
2029 Mario Movie 3
2030 Zelda Movie 2?
2031 ????
2032 Mario movie 4?
2033 Zelda Movie 3?

[CyberCubed]

DK movie is definitely happening, it's why DK is absent in the second Mario movie. I wonder if they will base it around Bananza with child Pauline, because child Pauline would be a huge hit with young girls and families. I hope they keep the same voice actress for Pauline as the game.

People want a Metroid movie, but I don't know how well a live-action Metroid would even do. Metroid is basically Alien, but without Samus talking much.

Also I'm sure there's going to be a Kirby or Pikmin movie at some point, probably Animal Crossing as well.

[ranger_scout]

Here are the photos, just in case no one saw them.

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/zelda-1.jpg?w=1000&h=667&crop=1

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/zelda-2.jpg

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/zelda-3.jpg

https://variety.com/2025/film/news/legend-of-zelda-movie-first-look-link-zelda-live-action-1236583595/

[Andrew NDB]

They really could have a new Lord of the Rings on their hands if they play their cards right. But it's really, really going to come down to the writing.

Just for fun, let's look at what the two writers attached have done that's notable.

Writer #1 Derek Connolly

* Jurassic World Dominion: Ooof! BAD! Probably the worst JP movie ever.

* Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom: ALMOST as bad as Dominion but DEFINITELY badly written.

* Star Wars IX: Rise of Skywalker: Blecchh!! The less said the better.

* Detective Pikachu: Never saw it.

* Kong Skull Island: OK... not bad.

* The original Jurassic World: Not terrible but hardly a benchmark of writing.

* Safety Not Guaranteed: Ah, now this was really, really well written and crafted! Very clever. But this was a very small, very indie movie.

Writer #2 T.S. Nowlin

* The Adam Project: This was that straight-to-Netflix Ryan Reynolds movie. Never bothered watching it because it looked awful, but maybe it wasn't that bad.

* Pacific Rim 2: Ehhh... not terrible but not memorable either. I wouldn't say it was BADLY written, really.

* All 3 of the Maze Runner movies: I actually liked them well enough. They got a little bit sillier after the first but they weren't badly written, I felt.


So yeah. Its not exactly EXCITING writers we've got here for the Zelda movie. Nothing in either's credits really suggests that either one is quite up for nailing something with as much potential as Zelda but these also aren't, like, CW writers or anything.

[sdp]

Detective Pikachu was pretty good, based on the game but actually improved the story.
It did fairly well, I wonder why they never did the sequel they announced. The second Detective Pikachu game came out a while ago.

[CyberCubed]

There's nowhere to take the story since Ryan Reynolds wasn't trapped in a Pikachu body anymore by the end of the film. So they can't do that again.

Also I don't think the movie did too well in Japan at all. From what I remember on twitter, Japanese fans didn't really like the "realistic" or "monster" like designs of the Pokemon, and felt it was off-base. It's also probably why we never got a different live-action Pokemon film based on the games or anything else.

Kind of funny since the Pokemon anime movies also stopped once Ash's era ended too...

[Andrew NDB]

It did fairly well, I wonder why they never did the sequel they announced.

There's really no good reason. It did half a billion worldwide on a 150 million budget. Most of that money was overseas, though, so maybe it wasn't REALLY as profitable as it looks on paper, or at least to try it a second time.

[ranger_scout]

The casting for Ganondorf has been announced.

https://deadline.com/2026/08/legend-of-zelda-uli-latukefu-ganondorf-1237027872/

[Andrew NDB]

Eh... OK? I'd have thought they'd want like a younger, more muscular Charles Dance-type for the part.

[ranger_scout]

Dichen Lachman has been cast as Impa and Yvonne Strahovski will be playing a Queen. Sam Neill filmed a part for the movie before his death.

https://deadline.com/2026/08/legend-of-zelda-sam-neill-yvonne-strahovski-dichen-lachman-1237027957/

[CyberCubed]

I wonder if Sam was the King of Hyrule.

[ranger_scout]

Lydia Peckham has been cast in an undisclosed role.

https://deadline.com/2026/08/legend-of-zelda-movie-adds-lydia-peckham-1237028555/

[sdp]

No trailer or even a teaser in the 40th anniversary direct which was a surprise. It'll most likely get its own direct in december. We did get the confirmation that the movie has no sub title, it's just called The Legend of Zelda.

Kinda bummed but whatever, they did say "you'll know once you see the movie why it doesn't have a subtitle". Based on that I think it means that the movie is all about why Zelda became a legend. So heavy focus on her,

[Andrew NDB]

We did get the confirmation that the movie has no sub title, it's just called The Legend of Zelda.

Kinda bummed but whatever, they did say "you'll know once you see the movie why it doesn't have a subtitle". Based on that I think it means that the movie is all about why Zelda became a legend. So heavy focus on her,

I never imagined it would have a subtitle or if it did, it would just be "The Legend of Zelda: The Movie."

I'm still expecting something of a "general" story here. Like Link will probably have Epona and maybe Navi from Ocarina of Time (and IF it has the ocarina there won't be time traveling), but then the basic plot of something like A Link to the Past or the original Legend of Zelda on NES. Just a traditional "someone needs to step up and overthrow Ganon, unite the Tri-Force and protect the Kingdom of Hyrule" story. With more of an active role throughout for Zelda, it seems.