Not “Lord of the Rings”: the live-action film adaptation “Legend Of Zelda” is based on these fantasy cult films

After Nintendo rocked the worldwide box office this year with “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the studio announced its next major video game adaptation from its own company in early November. After a decade of failed film adaptations, fans can finally expect a major live-action adaptation of “The Legend of Zelda“. The story about Princess Zelda and elf warrior Link evokes fantastic worlds that are inevitably reminiscent of successful fantasy series such as ‘The Lord of the Rings’. But that’s exactly what director Wes Ball (“Planet of the Apes: New Kingdom”) wants to do orientate.

Like the filmmaker in conversation with revealed that he sees another source of inspiration for ‘The Legend Of Zelda’: “It will be a great fantasy adventure, but not like ‘The Lord of the Rings’, it will be its own thing. I’ve always said I would love to see a live-action Miyazaki, the wonder and magic that his films bring, I would love to see something like that.”

Wes Ball wants to tackle “Zelda” after “Planet of the Apes 4”.

Wes Ball sees the ‘The Legend Of Zelda’ adaptation more in the style of Hayao Miyazaki’s Films that the Japanese director made in recent decades with his legendary Studio Ghibli. In addition to classics such as “Princess Mononoke”, “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away”, Miyazaki’s latest film “The Boy and the Heron” is currently in the starting blocks, which will be released in German cinemas on January 4, 2024. .

While Ball is currently wrapping up work on ‘Planet of the Apes: New Kingdom’, which awaits us in cinemas on May 23, 2024, the director wants to tackle ‘Zelda’ as one of his next projects: ‘We are currently working on the script, and whether it’s hard to say if this will be the next one or not. However, the plan is to take a short break after ‘Planet of the Apes’ and then focus on ‘Zelda’ and hopefully give the fans what they want, but at the same time attract a new audience. I think Nintendo wants to introduce people to this world that has been around for forty years.”

Fancasting: Hunter Schafer as Zelda?

The screenplay for “Zelda” will be written by “Pokémon Detective Pikachu” author Derek Conolly, with Marvel veteran Avi Arad (“Spider-Man: A New Universe”) serving as producer behind the project. Developer Shigeru Miyamoto is also involved in the live-action adaptation of his video game series. While Ball says script work is currently in full swing, it remains to be seen when the fantasy spectacle will actually reach us in theaters.

Details about the story and casting are also scarce. In any case, fans have spoken out loud about the ‘Euphoria’ and ‘The Hunger Games – The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes’ star on social media Hunter Schafer in the role of Princess Zelda. Although the actress has already expressed interest in this, there has been no official statement from the production side.