The very first “The Legend of Zelda” game was released in 1986 for the Famicom, an early home gaming system. Since then, there have been more than a dozen new games in the series, with the newest one due to come out later this year. Created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, the games follow Link, a young adventurer who almost always ends up saving the world from some manner of devastation at the hands of Ganon, the series’ ultimate villain. Zelda, by the way, is the name of the princess of Hyrule, who is a lot less helpless than many of her ’80s video game counterparts.
While I absolutely love the idea of a live-action “Legend of Zelda” movie or television series, I do have quite a few questions. The movie’s tone and audience could be pretty different depending on which “Zelda” game ends up being adapted, if they choose to adapt a specific game. There’s also the possibility of a totally new story set in the world of Hyrule, drawing from fan-favorite elements of multiple games. Whatever they decide to do, the biggest challenge facing the folks in charge is figuring out how to make Link a compelling protagonist. One of the most enduring things about all versions of Link is that they do not talk. How are you going to make an entire movie with your hero only grunting and huffing? Will Navi be annoying purely out of fan service? Will we see Sheik?!
“The Legend of Zelda” movie is still a long ways out, but Miyamoto tweeted the following: “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.”
We certainly do.