The Zelda movie is real and I need someone to wake me up from this nightmare
And... Sony is producing it? Have I shifted into another plane of existence?
While I might struggle to actually write this out due to an overwhelming sense of disbelief, a live action The Legend of Zelda film is in the works.
We all remember the horrifying moment where Chris Pratt was announced as the voice of Mario in this year's animated Super Mario Bros. film. I honestly couldn't believe it when it got announced, but hey, at least it was animated, so there was the potential for it to be alright. Now, Nintendo has just gone and announced a live action Zelda film on some random Tuesday in November, just before I was about to go to sleep. No, I'm not pulling your leg here - and the fact that Sony Pictures Entertainment is co-financing it alongside Nintendo isn't even the wildest part.
Unsurprisingly, Shigeru Miyamoto will produce the film, alongside longtime Sony producer Avi Arad, who has produced such hits as the 2003 Daredevil film, the 2017 Ghost in the Shell remake, and… last year's Morbius. Oh boy. Need I say more on that front? To be fair to him he did also produce the incredible Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Verse films, but the hits are far and few between in his film production record.
Perhaps even more concerningly is that the film will be directed by Wes Ball, who has only worked on three Maze Runner films, and next year's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, not exactly a reassuring catalogue of works. According to Deadline, Detective Pikachu writer Derek Conolly is penning the screenplay, and that film was fun enough, so perhaps not all is lost. Though, he did also write Jurassic World, so I'm starting to lose confidence again.
Miyamoto shared a statement on the announcement, writing, "I have been working on the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda for many years now with Avi Arad-san, who has produced many mega hit films. I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me, and we have now officially started the development of the film with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it."
Personally, I couldn't imagine a more cursed announcement. If it was animated, I could somewhat believe they'll actually keep Link a silent protagonist, but when they're going to be forking over presumably millions for some famous face, they've got to make him speak, right? What if he sounds like the original animated series Link? Plus, while it might be a bit of a basic wish, the hope that Studio Ghibli might make a Zelda film (given Breath of the Wild's obvious inspirations) have certainly been dashed.
I guess we'll just have to wait for the casting announcement to jumpscare us during a Nintendo Direct in the next couple of years.