Highlights
- After the success of the Super Mario Bros. Movie, there is growing interest in a live-action Legend of Zelda movie, with Universal rumored to be developing it.
- A movie based on The Legend of Zelda could have a more serious tone compared to the Mario movie, potentially leading to the inclusion of Zelda characters in Universal’s theme parks.
- The success of video game movies like the Mario film has revived interest in the idea, despite past failures, and fans have been eagerly anticipating a Zelda movie for a long time. The question now is when it will happen.
It looks like Mario may not be the only member of gaming royalty with an ambition for the big screen. The appropriately legendary game series The Legend of Zelda could have its sights set on achieving the same level of cinematic success. But how likely is it to happen?
After The Super Mario Bros. Movie proved to be a surprise hit, studios are understandably clamoring to repeat its success. Even the producer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom recently expressed interest in a Zelda movie. So, the pieces appear to be sliding into place to make this a reality. However, there has still been no official word despite all the interest. Even so, a new rumor from a reliable source offered some real hope for the idea.
Prominent and largely trustworthy movie industry insider MyTimeToShineHello recently posted an exciting new prospect on Twitter. In the post, she boldly claimed, “Universal developing a live action Legend of Zelda movie.” Like her other posts, it consists only of the claim itself, which may seem iffy to some. But her track record is more than decent with these sorts of things, and that’s not even mentioning the possibilities that come with the alleged studio.
After rumors initially swirled that The Super Mario Bros. Movie studio Illumination would move on to The Legend of Zelda next, it seemed like the logical choice. But now, Universal may be stepping in and choosing live-action over animation. This could result in a film with a far different and much more serious tone than the Mario movie. But aside from that, it raises the question of whether it means that Zelda characters will ultimately end up joining Universal’s Super Nintendo Land section of their California and Florida theme parks. Naturally, that question is a bit further down the list below, “Will it happen?” and, “Why, though?”
The massive success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie showed Hollywood that there’s a market for films based on video games, despite decades of largely failed attempts at the same thing. So it makes sense that interest in the idea would immediately shoot up once it proved its mettle. Some viewers may take issue with how it happened, as the film was mostly regarded as “just fine” at best. The implication is that future movies would likely copy its noted lack of ambition in favor of widespread appeal.
Quality questions aside, the idea of a movie based on The Legend of Zelda has swirled in fans’ minds since the series’ inception. Netflix even had a Zelda series reportedly in the works before Nintendo allegedly pulled the plug. So, at this point, the question is less about “if” and more about “when.” Unfortunately, the answer may be a little depressing.
Source: MyTimeToShineHello/Twitter