According to movie insider Jeff Sneider (via YouTuber John Rocha), a deal to produce a film based on The Legend of Zelda is nearly done between Nintendo and Illumination, the Santa Monica-based computer animation studio behind Despicable Me, Minions, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Here's what Sneider reported on the deal:
I don't think what I'm about to say is a huge surprise. I think everyone's sort of anticipating this news but I got this tip last week during the show from a great source and I didn't want to just blurt it out. So I did call yesterday, never heard back, so we're just gonna put it out there.
Again, not a big shocker, but from what I'm told it is getting close to official. I'm told that Universal is in fact closing a big deal with Nintendo Corporation for The Legend of Zelda. It is looking like the next big Illumination-Nintendo franchise which again, I think we were all sort of expecting, but I'm told that that is happening and it's going to cost Universal a pretty penny because of the success of Super Mario. Nintendo kind of knows its worth at this point. But yeah, I'm told that that is now going to be a reality.
Despite being one of the oldest and most successful IPs in gaming, The Legend of Zelda only got a short-lived 13-episode animated TV series adaptation that aired in the United States in 1989. Netflix tried to make a live action TV adaptation in 2015, but following a leak appeared on the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo pulled back and the project was canceled.
This Zelda movie would be the first proper adaptation. It certainly seems the right time, following on the heels of the smashing success registered with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed over $1.3 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing gaming adaptation ever made, not to mention the third-highest grossing animated film in history (behind only the remake of The Lion King and Frozen II), the biggest global opening weekend of an animated film, and the current top-grossing film released this year at the box office.
The new Zelda game, Tears of the Kingdom, also recently broke records to become Nintendo's fastest-selling game ever in the United States with 10 million copies sold in its first three days.
Nintendo guru Shigeru Miyamoto had, after all, teased last month that more movies would be on the way. The question is, then, who would you like to see voicing Link and Zelda? Let us know in the comments.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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