Nintendo has generated headlines this week for plummeting Switch sales, confirmation that the Switch 2 is backwards compatible, and the company's its rollercoaster share price. Now, we have perhaps the biggest news of all: the Zelda movie will be released before the end of the decade.
Admittedly, that’s not much to go on, but it does confirm the hotly anticipated film movie is at most five years away. Given the Super Mario Bros. movie sequel is due out in 2026, there’s plenty to be excited about if you’re a fan of Nintendo on the big screen over the coming years.
Confirmation comes from a Nintendo financial report that looks to the company’s future. One slide, under the title “Visual Content,” lists the blockbuster Super Mario Bros. Movie as coming out in 2023, its sequel in 2026, and The Legend of Zelda movie in “202X.”
“In the field of visual content, we are making direct investments and are deeply involved in the planning and development of multiple productions,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a joint production with Illumination, was released in April last year and was viewed in theaters by approximately 170 million people. This film was enjoyed by people of all ages worldwide, regardless of gaming experience, making Mario more familiar to a broader audience than ever before.
“Looking ahead, we are creating a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros., set for theatrical release in April 2026. Additionally, we are planning and developing a live-action film of The Legend of Zelda.”
Nintendo and Sony Pictures first made the massive announcement about a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie last November, with Wes Ball (The Maze Runner, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) set to direct and Avi Arad and Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto producing.
We know next to nothing about the movie itself, though. Ball has said he wants it to be "live action Miyazaki," referencing beloved filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, the director of Studio Ghibli and creator of myriad anime classics such as My Neighbor Totoro, Howl's Moving Castle, and Spirited Away. Ball still plans for the Zelda movie to be a "serious" adaptation that feels real, and has made clear he doesn't intend to use much motion capture in the "grounded" film.
Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
