Nintendo announces 'Legend of Zelda' live-action film

Nintendo, the reputed video game company, has recently announced the development of a live-action film of their hit video game series, The Legend of Zelda. As per an official press release by Nintendo, the film will be produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director and Fellow of Nintendo, and Avi Arad, producer of the recent Spider-Man movies. The film will be directed by Wes Ball, director of The Maze Runner movies.

Nintendo has added that the film will be jointly produced by them and Arad Productions Inc., an animation and studio company owned by Avi Arad. Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. will jointly finance the film, with worldwide theatrical distribution to be done by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Not much else is known about the film so far, including details about the story or the casting. It is also currently unknown which of the nearly 30 video games under the title 'The Legend of Zelda' is going to be adapted by the live-action film. However, fans are speculating an adaptation of 'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild', which was the first Zelda game on Nintendo Switch as well as one of the two open-world games of the 37-year-long franchise.

'The Legend of Zelda' video games revolve around the adventures of Link, a mostly silent protagonist with different iterations and reincarnations throughout the long-spanning series. The gameplay involves puzzling-solving and action-adventure elements set in a fantastical world with magical creatures and monsters - often taking place in the kingdom of Hyrule, where the titular Zelda is the reigning princess. 

Since its launch in Japan in 1986, the Zelda franchise has been a big success worldwide, selling over 150 million copies up to September 2023. One of its most popular games, Breath of the Wild, has sold over 31 million copies on the Switch by September 2023 and 1.70 million copies on the Wii U by December 2020. Its latest game, Tears of the Kingdom, released in May this year, has tracked 19.5 million sales thus far.

In April this year, Universal Pictures in association with Illumination and Nintendo released The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an animated adaption of Nintendo's popular Mario video game series. As of September 2023, the film has tracked a whopping box office of $1.36 billion.