The Legend Of Zelda Director Wes Ball Predicted His Own Movie Over A Decade Ago
It was announced this week that director Wes Ball (the "Maze Runner" movies, the upcoming "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes") will be helming a live-action feature film based on the Nintendo video game franchise "The Legend of Zelda." The original 1986 "Legend of Zelda" game took place in a fantasy kingdom called Hyrule, which had become overrun by monsters after the evil pig-like overlord Ganon kidnapped Princess Zelda. Players controlled an elf-like hero named Link as he traversed dungeons, collecting a growing array of weapons and seeking pieces of the Triforce, a triangular widget of ineffable power. It was Nintendo's riff on the high fantasy genre, taking cues from "Dungeons & Dragons" and J.R.R. Tolkien.
In the 37 years since the game's release, it has become a massive property unto itself, spawning 19 sequels and a 1989 animated segment that ran as part of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show." It would have seemed logical to have made a "Legend of Zelda" feature film by now, but Nintendo became very wary of the U.S. film market after the failure of the 1993 "Super Mario Bros." movie. It would take until 2023's animated "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" for Nintendo to enter theaters again. With that film being one of the most successful of the year, Nintendo seems keen on branching out once again.
Ball is a capable director of effects-based genre films and seems like a logical enough choice to direct a live-action/CGI rendition of "The Legend of Zelda." It turns out that he, back in 2010, even suggested himself for the gig, posting on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter), in the wake of the success of "Avatar," that he would use similar motion-capture technology to adapt "The Legend of Zelda" (via Variety).
The Tweet from 2010
Ball's Tweet from January 29, 2010, read:
"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."
Whether or not Ball's 2010 fantasy will translate into an "Avatar"-like film made with a great deal of digital environs — and dozens of characters realized through complex motion-capture technology – remains to be seen. Given the way modern blockbusters tend to be made, however, it's likely "The Legend of Zelda" will be an expensive affair and will feature a large amount of digital special effects. Link fights monsters, traverses caves, and explores dungeons. One can already see those sorts of stories in Peter Jackson's half-dozen "Lord of the Rings" movies.
Of the live-action "Zelda" film, game co-creator and Nintendo game director Shigeru Miyamoto noted that he had been developing it for a long time, working with Avi Arad, the Hollywood super-producer behind dozens of superhero hit films, including the "Spider-Verse" movies, as well as the handler of the video game adaptations "Uncharted" and the upcoming "Borderlands." On the Nintendo social media accounts, Miyamoto wrote:
"I have been working on the live-action film of 'The Legend of Zelda' for many years now with Avi Arad-san, who has produced many mega-hit films. I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me, and we have now officially started the development of the film with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it."
A release date has not been announced. In the meantime, enjoy IGN's and Sam Balcomb's fake 2008 April Fools' Day trailer for "The Legend of Zelda."