The Legend of Zelda Movie Needs to Get 5 Things Right to Be Successful

Video game movies have a difficult task: appeasing film fans and gamers. Those two groups do often overlap, but the Venn diagram is not a circle. That’s what The Legend of Zelda will have to try to do once it releases in 2027. There have been great adaptations lately, but a few duds still come out, and the history of game adaptations is thoroughly documented. For a long time, they were almost exclusively bad. Some aspects of the source material just won’t work in live action (which is why animation might’ve been wiser), but a few of them have to be done right for this to be a successful endeavor.

Nintendo has partnered with Sony this time around for The Legend of Zelda movie, having previously worked with Illumination for the animated Mario movie. Plus the film already has a confirmed with cast Bo Bragason (Renegade Nell) as Princess Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Pinocchio) as Link with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes‘ Wes Ball directing. It’s been delayed once and is currently scheduled to arrive May 7, 2027. With nearly two years before it’s premiere, these are the things the movie can’t afford to leave behind.

5) Link’s Sound Effects

I’m not expecting the film to keep Link silent. He technically communicates to NPCs all the time in Zelda games, and having one of the two main characters (arguably the lead in the movie) not speak whatsoever adds a layer of difficulty that probably doesn’t need to be there.

However, Link’s most audible moments from the games are when he grunts or screams. His falling sound effect has to be included as an Easter egg for gamers, and it would be really nice if he made the “Hyah!” sound when swinging his sword or jumping. Those probably don’t need to be the only things Link does, but the movie would be sorely lacking if it didn’t at least include some references to these iconic noises.

4) The Dungeons

It seems likely that The Legend of Zelda movie could be inspired by the newest games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, giving Link space to roam around a sprawling, open world. There just has to be at least one significant dungeon, and not the kind that featured in those two games. Those were solid, but they were decidedly not classic Zelda dungeons.

It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to have Link inside all the time in the live-action adaptation, but there should be at least one traditional dungeon where Link enters and doesn’t see the light of day again for a small amount of time while he works through puzzles and fights two bosses. Assuming the movie is around two hours, this shouldn’t be a long section, but it needs to be included.

3) The Master Sword

There have been several different versions of the Master Sword throughout The Legend of Zelda. Most often, it’s a mythical item that Link must retrieve through some convoluted method. Other times, however, it’s the sword the Hero is given at the beginning that goes through transformations to reach its final form.

There must be a good Master Sword scene in the movie, which means Sony and Nintendo can’t go with the latter option. Whether it’s Link emulating Arthur with the sword in the stone or another of the various methods, the Master Sword needs to be treated properly and portrayed accurately.

2) The Kingdom of Hyrule

There are so many different versions of Hyrule. They’re all generally similar since it is the same fantasy world every time, but there are locations that do not transfer over to every single title. The map is unique in most games, and that goes for layout and size. The layout and size don’t matter so much to the world of the live-action film, since there’s probably not going to be an on-screen map showing it, but the movie does need to include several key locations.

These include Hyrule Castle, Lost Woods, Bridge of Eldin, Rito Village, and Mount Lanayru. Hyrule Castle is a must, but it would also fit really well with the aesthetic of some of Wes Ball’s prior works. The Bridge of Eldin would likely be a cinematographer’s dream with stunning backdrops, as would Rito Village elevated into the sky and Mount Lanayru towering over the land.

1) The Music

The music of The Legend of Zelda is iconic and brilliant. Some of the best gaming soundtracks of all time are from this series, with Koji Kondo’s impeccable work on Ocarina of Time really standing out. Bringing music from a video game to a movie is not easy since it’s rarely a one-to-one transfer.

Take The Super Mario Bros. Movie, for example. Brian Tyler did a pretty nice job working with existing themes and scores from the catalog of Mario video games to make a film score that works in one medium while paying homage to the other. That’s what absolutely has to happen here, given the extreme importance of music to this franchise. Getting it wrong would do a major disservice to those who haven’t experienced the music and would be insulting to those who have.

Are you excited for The Legend of Zelda to hit the big screen? Let us know in the comments!

5 Times Zelda Got to Be More Than a Princess