Legend of Zelda Movie Delayed by Sony and Nintendo

The live-action movie based on Nintendo’s Zelda franchise has been officially hit with a delay. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem to be a significant one, at least not at this point. Instead, Nintendo confirmed in a post on X/Twitter that the movie has been pushed back by six weeks. A new release date of May 7, 2027 has now been announced. Given the short delay time, it’s possible that this was merely a scheduling issue, but Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto says that the extra time will be dedicated to working on the film’s quality, and helping it live up to the standards of the series.

“This is Miyamoto. For production reasons, we are changing the release date of the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda to May 7, 2027. It will be some weeks later than the release timing we originally announced, and we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it can be. Thank you for your patience,” Miyamoto wrote in a post on Nintendo’s official X/Twitter account.

The Legend of Zelda movie was originally scheduled to be released on March 26, 2027. As of this writing, official details about the movie are incredibly slim. The adaptation will be directed by Wes Ball, who directed last year’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. As was the case with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the adaptation is being closely developed with Nintendo, to ensure that it feels accurate to its inspirations. Avi Arad is attached to produce the film. At this time, casting for the film has not been announced, though fans have spent years requesting Hunter Schafer to play the game’s titular princess.

The Zelda series is one of Nintendo’s most successful, and studios have been interested in making a live-action adaptation for decades now. However, Nintendo would frequently turn away anyone that showed an interest in making one. In a recent interview with the Video Game History Foundation, former Nintendo of America advertising manager Gail Tilden noted that that even “if Stephen Spielberg himself” contacted the company about the prospect of making a Zelda movie, the company would have said no.

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A lot has clearly changed since those days. Nintendo is much more open about making movies based on its properties, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie made more than a billion dollars at the global box office when it was released in 2023. It remains to be seen whether The Legend of Zelda adaptation will see similar success, but hopefully the creators can find a way to honor the source material, while delivering an experience that appeals to casual moviegoers. That’s always the struggle with video game adaptations, but with Nintendo and Miyamoto being closely involved, we could see some positive results. Hopefully the extra time following the delay will lead to some additional polish.

Are you excited about the Zelda movie? What Nintendo games would you like to see adapted into movies? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!