The Age of the Video Game movies is really upon us. Nintendo is really banking in on the recent, massive successes of video game adaptations as they announced The Legend of Zelda is getting its own movie!
This is going to change cinema and television.
In light of all the massive critical and commercial successes of video game-to-Hollywood adaptations over the last year, Nintendo has decided to further bank on these successes by teaming up with Sony to adapt The Legend of Zelda to the big screen. And, unlike most of the video games that have been adapted so far, I think this film has a chance to be a SERIOUS contender for major award success.
Now, I don’t want to paint a wrong picture for anyone who thinks I just talked down some of the latest video game movie adaptations to come out as that’s not my intention at all. Super Mario Bros., Five Nights At Freddy’s, and The Last of Us have all been sensational in their own, respective, rights and have made MASSIVE strides at the box office and television worlds.
I mean, The Last of Us has already had multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for best picture and best actor, The Super Mario Bros. movie is the 2nd highest grossing movie of the entire year, and Five Nights At Freddy’s is poised to be the most successful horror movie of the year…and it’s only been out for a week or so. But The Legend of Zelda franchise is just different.
Not only does the brand have the MASSIVE appeal for all types of gamers that Super Mario Bros. possesses to have monumental box office success, but it also has the serious and narrative structure needed to create critical and award-level hype that The Last of Us had. This movie really has the potential of being the next big entertainment franchise/IP in Hollywood.
And, no, I’m not talking about a franchise like Jurassic Park or Fast and Furious that opened up to massive appeal and enjoyment to only mass produce far less likeable and unworthy successor that destroyed the brand, but rather a peak Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter, James Bond, MCU-level of franchises.
Maybe I’m jumping the shark a bit with my predictions, but The Legend of Zelda games have CONSTANTLY been rewarded with Game of the Year awards, Game of the Decade titles, and have been responsible for the massive jump in popularity and relevance of the gaming world to the general public. This is one of the monster franchises in the gaming world, and it’s only going to get bigger and better with a great movie adaptation.
And, thankfully, Nintendo is HEAVILY involved in bringing this film to light.
As far as I’ve read, Nintendo has had massive creative control as they did with Universal over the Super Mario Bros. movie, the legend himself, Shigeru Miyamoto (the guy who created the Zelda series for those who don’t know), is one of the producers on this film, Nintendo has supposedly footed over 50% of the bill for the movie, and partnering with Sony was a good idea as they have been pretty decent with their treatment of franchise films over the last few years.
Hell, I’d much rather have some studio like Sony helping Nintendo make this film than Disney or Warner Bros. Those two studios couldn’t get their own heads out of their, respective, assess if they tried.
Nevertheless, it’s a little too early to tell which game Nintendo and Sony will be adapting for this film or the details behind the casting, but I’m just happy the video game companies are finally getting involved in bringing their fantastic series to the big screen.
Images Source: Featured Image: (Nintendo) (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Official Trailer #3 – YouTube)
