Studio Ghibli Come To Life Is The Goal For Director Wes Ball's Live-Action ZELDA Movie

Studio Ghibli Come To Life Is The Goal For Director Wes Ball's Live-Action ZELDA Movie

The Legend of Zelda director Wes Ball recently declared that he wanted the live-action film to have the matching aesthetic of Studio Ghibli icon Hayao Miyazaki.

By MarkJulian - Dec 06, 2023 06:12 PM EST
Filed Under: Video Games
Source: GameFragger.com

The usually closed-off Nintendo is hoping to be more receptive to video game movies after the success of The Super Mario Bros. movie.

Following the massive failure of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film, starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, Nintendo steadfastly rejected all advances from Hollywood for years.

However, when Sega, Nintendo's rival, released the successful Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2020, things started to change. This prompted Nintendo to approve the production of an animated Super Mario Bros. film, which was released in 2023 and made $1.362 billion in total revenue on a $100 million production budget.

Nintendo is now focusing on Link from The Legend of Zelda, their second most well-known mascot.

Nintendo fans are currently swooning over the prospect of a live-action Legend of Zelda film, which was recently announced.

When describing his vision for the live-action Legend of Zelda movie, Maze Runner director Wes Ball stated, "this awesome fantasy-adventure movie that isn’t like Lord of the Rings, it’s its own thing. I've always said, I would love to see a live-action Miyazaki. That wonder and whimsy that he brings to things, I would love to see something like that."

Nintendo and Sony are co-producing the movie with Derek Connolly penning the script.

Ball went on to add, "It’s going to be awesome. My whole life has led up to this moment. I grew up on Zelda and it is the most important property, I think, that’s untapped IP, if you will. So we very much are working hard to do something. We’re not just trying to do it because we can. We want to make something really special."

However, the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director cautioned that it's still very early in development  and he uncertain if the Zelda movie will be his next film.

"We’re working on the script, and whether it’s the next one or not, it’s hard to say exactly,. But certainly the plan is, after Apes is done, to have a little bit of a rest for a moment, and then dive into [Zelda] and hopefully give fans what they’re hoping for, and also invite new people in. I think Nintendo's desire is to introduce people to this world that’s been around for 40 years now."

The Legend of Zelda is, at its heart, a narrative of good vs evil, light versus darkness, and having the courage to stand up for what is right. It's a timeless story of bravery, exploration, and the lasting impact of hope. 

The gaming franchise typically follows Link, a youthful Hylian man selected by fate to save the realm of Hyrule from the wicked wizard, Ganon.  Zelda is the princess of Hyrule, a clever and powerful young woman who possesses the Triforce of Wisdom, one of three powerful sacred relics.

The story's central conflict is the perpetual conflict between Link and Ganon for control of the Triforce. Ganon aims to exploit the Triforce's power to enslave Hyrule, whereas Link usually works alongside Zelda to safeguard the country and its people.

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Fares
Fares - 12/6/2023, 6:26 PM
They could just...you know...animate it.
grif
grif - 12/6/2023, 6:58 PM
@Fares - yep
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 12/7/2023, 2:33 AM
@Fares - yeah. Zelda's style is perfect for that. Could be up there with Arcane, Spider-Verse and Mario in terms of animation
dragon316
dragon316 - 12/7/2023, 7:14 AM
@Fares - they may want take ghost in shell transformer comic book route people will see it animated kids and fans of video games and Zelda but live action is where non fans non animated people will defiantly watch live action more adult animation is more for kids as adults say who don’t watch cartoons and don’t have kids
thunderpun573
thunderpun573 - 12/9/2023, 2:08 AM
@dragon316 - this argument doesn’t really hold up after Super Mario Bros and Spider-verse, which were two of the biggest movies of the year.
HumanRubiksCube
HumanRubiksCube - 12/6/2023, 6:33 PM
id love a links awakening animated movie
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 12/6/2023, 6:43 PM
Only time i ever played anything Zelda related was when i sometimes, rarely, played as Link in Smashbrother for N64... otherwise im clueless... but hey, if its good i'll watch it.
WhatIfRickJames
WhatIfRickJames - 12/6/2023, 6:45 PM
Untapped potential here.
grif
grif - 12/6/2023, 6:58 PM
lol how did sony get its hands on this?



KaptainKhaos
KaptainKhaos - 12/6/2023, 7:01 PM
This is going to be a a massive flop and Zelda fans are gunna rage
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 12/6/2023, 8:10 PM
@KaptainKhaos - Unfortunately I can see this being a very strong possibility. And then people who have never played a Zelda game or even picked up a video game controller will like it and call those actual fans of the franchise "toxic".

Sounds very familiar....
MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 12/6/2023, 7:05 PM
This will fail as a live action movie.
Look at Dungeons & Dragons.
The movie was great and yet it failed to make enough money ($208 million box office on a $100 million budget).

Legend of Zelda is virtually unknown outside of hardcore Nintendo gamers.
An animation will appeal to families and kids more, a live sction movie will stay under $100 million .
Kadara
Kadara - 12/6/2023, 7:06 PM
I would have been over the moon if they had gone with an animated version. Now I'm just cautiously optimistic.
dracula
dracula - 12/6/2023, 7:22 PM
Surprised they are going live action

Thought they wanted some kind of Super Smash Brothers universe or multiverse
dracula
dracula - 12/6/2023, 7:25 PM
Guessing next will either be Star Fox or Metroid
tylerzero
tylerzero - 12/6/2023, 7:42 PM
"(Insert ANY sci-fi/fantasy movie) is, at its heart, a narrative of good vs evil, light versus darkness, and having the courage to stand up for what is right. It's a timeless story of bravery, exploration, and the lasting impact of hope."
DocSpock
DocSpock - 12/6/2023, 8:26 PM

The failure will be epic & breathtaking.

marvel72
marvel72 - 12/6/2023, 9:11 PM
This should be CGI animated like Mario.
BassMan
BassMan - 12/6/2023, 9:19 PM
I’m very much behind behind this kinda inspiration, really hope this turns out good.
MahN166A
MahN166A - 12/6/2023, 9:19 PM
It’s funny how they want to go the Studio Ghibli route after THIS got released:

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zeon00
zeon00 - 12/6/2023, 10:01 PM
@MahN166A - Breath of the Wild was heavily influenced by studio ghibli & princess Mononoke

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