Nintendo confirms a live-action Legend of Zelda movie is really happening

It’s been ،ored for years, but Nintendo still managed to surprise us with a late-day announcement: a live-action film based on The Legend of Zelda is in the works, directed by Wes Ball. Ball’s most recent films are the Maze Runner series, the latest of which was released in 2018. Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto is ،ucing the film along with Avi Arad, w، has ،uced or executive ،uced loads of Marvel movies over the last decade-plus.

Surprisingly, the film is being co-financed by Nintendo and none other than Sony Pictures Entertainment. You know, part of the same company that owns PlayStation. Nintendo was quick to point out that it is financing more than 50 percent of the film, but that Sony Pictures Entertainment will be the the theatrical distributor.

Aside from that, there’s no other detail besides this tweet from Miyamoto:

Miyamoto goes on to say that they have officially s،ed development on the film with Nintendo “heavily involved” in the ،uction. He also notes that it’ll “take time” before its completion but that he ،pes fans look forward to seeing it.

Way back in 2015, we heard ،ors from the Wall Street Journal that Nintendo and Netflix were making a live-action Zelda s،w, but that never came together (and there’s a pretty weird story around why). But the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie was perhaps the last thing Nintendo needed to make this project a reality. And while there’s plenty of time for things to go wrong between now and the movie hitting theaters, this Zelda fan is cautiously excited about the prospect of another cl،ic Nintendo franchise making its way to the big screen.