Nintendo took everyone by surprise a few days ago with the official announcement of his next film project: a live-action film that would adapt the plot of his video game franchise The Legend of Zelda.
All previous rumors and reports indicated that the Japanese company would indeed focus on bringing the world of Link and the Princess to the big screen. But all reports suggested that it would be an animated film in the purest style of Super Mario Bros. the movie.
The Plumber’s Adventure is one of the highest-grossing films of this year 2023 and there was talk of the opportunity to create from it an animated cinematographic universe that aspired to cross the worlds of the Italian dwarf and the legendary hero with other possible projects.
The idea of Nintendo creating its own MCU, culminating everything with a Super Smash Bros. tape was very attractive. But in the end it seems that the company thinks in other terms.
Now The Legend of Zelda will have a film adapted in Live-Action and its director seems that this was something that had been clear to him for many years.
The Legend of Zelda and its director already had everything clear
The recently announced director of the film The Legend of ZeldaWes Ball, would have had an adaptation of the video game in mind for a long time: 13 years, to be exact.
As we all know, the internet keeps records of absolutely everything and someone has found a publication made on the official Twitter account from the filmmaker where he was already talking about adapting this franchise:
Since I could never even hope to have the chance to direct it… the next big mo-cap Avatar-like movie should be… THE LEGEND OF ZELDA.
— Wes Ball (@wesball) January 29, 2010
“As I could never dream of having the opportunity to direct it… the next big Avatar-style motion capture movie should be… THE LEGEND OF ZELDA!”
That’s what Ball tweeted in January 2010, more than a decade ago. And now, as if by fate, the film was officially announced just this November 7, 2023, although rumors of an adaptation had been circulating practically since the year Ball decreed his vision.
Ball is known for directing the Maze Runner trilogy and from what has been investigated he is also a fan of the latest Maze Runner game. Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom:
Don’t have a lot of free time these days, but I’ve been sneaking in some of the latest Zelda. The game is amazing. I knew it would be good, but it has surprised me so far. Really accessible. Great story. And insane gameplay mechanics. Players like this guy blow my mind… pic.twitter.com/2IRsbb7Bcs
— Wes Ball (@wesball) June 10, 2023
“I don’t have much free time these days, but I’ve been playing a bit of the latest Zelda. The game is amazing. I knew it would be good, but it has really surprised me so far. It is very accessible. Great story. And amazing game mechanics.”
Next up for Wes Ball is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth installment of the science fiction series that had already closed its first cycle with a reboot trilogy.
While we wait for The Legend of Zelda movie, we can enjoy all the Nintendo titles in the franchise to try to guess which of them would be the base material for the movie script.
Although obviously the most popular candidate would be the game of Ocarina of Time.