To the surprise of many, Shigeru Miyamoto has just announced that a The Legend of Zelda movie with real actors and co-produced by Avi Arad is in development. The surprise here was not the fact that Nintendo has plans to make a film based on this franchise, especially after the monumental success that was the animated Super Mario Bros. movie. What many did not see coming was the fact that it will be Live Action and that they are working with Sony Pictures, instead of continuing to collaborate with Universal Studios. This has led to a very important question: Which installment of the Zelda franchise will be adapted?
Debating which The Legend of Zelda game to see on the big screen
The Legend of Zelda franchise has been around for over 30 years, and has been responsible for countless excellent games with epic stories. Perhaps it would make the most sense to base the film on the two most recent titles, Breath of the Wild & Tears of the Kingdom. After all, the public is very familiar with these two games, given the sales success of the Nintendo Switch. On the other hand, those who want to see a darker, more serious film may prefer an adaptation of Twilight Princess, which is considered one of the more adult adventures in the franchise.
Many other fans point to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as the best option. This Nintendo 64 video game marked a before and after in the franchise, and many future installments have borrowed something from this classic adventure. Of course, we can’t dismiss other solid games like Wind Waker, A Link to the Past, Majora’s Mask, Link’s Awakening and many more. Even some spin-offs, such as Hyrule Warriors or Four Sword Adventures, could turn out to be very entertaining movies, as long as they are adapted correctly.
To give us a good idea of the vision Nintendo may have in mind for The Legend of Zelda movie, we can take a look at Super Mario Bros. Although that film technically adapted the plot of the first game, they took many artistic liberties that resulted in a 100% original story. It’s possible to repeat that formula with Zelda: Using the premise of Link saving Princess Zelda from Ganon, then building your own original story around that simple concept. If it worked for Mario, it can work for The Legend of Zelda.
At the end of the day, the final decision rests with Nintendo, Sony Pictures, Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad. The truth is that they have a ton to choose from, and it’s really impossible for us to pick just one game that can be adapted into this upcoming Live Action movie. But it is also important that fans of The Legend of Zelda propose different ideas, so that together we can get an idea of what this particular film will be like.
So, you can comment with your opinion here below: Which video game of The Legend of Zelda saga should be adapted in the movie? Why?
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