Time was that video game movies were cursed. Remember 1993’s Super Mario Bros., starring an appalled Bob Hoskins? Jump three decades to the present and Hollywood has finally (mostly) figured out how to make the genre work. The biggest grosser that’s not Barbie is, as it happens, the second stab at a Super Mario Bros. movie. Somehow it took about six months for Nintendo to greenlit a big screen take on another of their deathless franchises. That’s right, there’s finally going to be a Legend of Zelda movie. And people are already trying to cast it.
This is Miyamoto. 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. [1]
— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) November 7, 2023
Per Variety, on Tuesday gaming legend and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto took to social media to reveal that, after working on a live-action Zelda movie “for many years,” he’s teaming with super-producer Avi Arad (of, among others, the last three iterations of the live-action Spider-Man) to belatedly make it a reality. Miyamoto warned Zelda fans that it “will take time until its completion,” but that the wheels are officially in motion.
The Legend of Zelda movie even already has a director: Wes Ball, of the Maze Runner trilogy and the forthcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Details are thin on the ground, though based on an interview Miyamoto did with Variety earlier this year, maybe don’t expect it to be a straight-up take on the 1986 original. “Just following the plot points of the video games will never work as a movie,” he said, arguing that the games’ plots are all about the player moving through a world. “Without the involvement of the player, it won’t meet expectations.”
Also up in the air? Who will play hero Link, or baddie Ganon, or the titular absconded princess Zelda. But when the news broke, a lot of people assumed the role would go to cinema’s most popular young actor, Tom Holland.
Tom holland cast announcement when? https://t.co/IAsS4nqjvO
— Cris Parker (@3CFilmss) November 7, 2023
Under Sony huh. Watch it star Tom Holland and half the internet kills themselves https://t.co/2GASyRwQ2Q
— Cody (@AltHistCody) November 7, 2023
tom holland getting casted as link is now a possibility and that’s terrifying https://t.co/M0irt23zGw
— kira (@kirawontmiss) November 7, 2023
there is a nonzero chance tom holland will be link https://t.co/qTRXqI4Qyy
— normie 𓆏 (@KellytoyDK) November 7, 2023
they’ve got tom holland on the phone as we speak https://t.co/5cf0O1BEdT
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) November 7, 2023
Please do not cast Tom Holland pic.twitter.com/N2LldWQRCj
— Melee Games (@MeleeGames) November 7, 2023
STOP SAYING TOM HOLLAND LINK STOP
— ava (@sidonlore) November 7, 2023
You know what? Just to piss people off even more than Chris Pratt Mario https://t.co/WjAzvIDfyq pic.twitter.com/oEVRalfIFH
— Kevstermania (COMMS SLOTS OPEN: 3) (@TheKevstermania) November 7, 2023
Another no-brainer: Chris Pratt, whose Mario casting was controversial when first announced. Then again, he might be a bit too old to play so young an adventurer.
I swear to god if they shoehorn Chris Pratt into this, I will erase all evidence of Nintendo’s existence off the face of the earth https://t.co/8JIsSOwv6u
— Ecce_Homosexual (@Ecce_Homosexual) November 7, 2023
Chris Pratt Link to Awkwafina Navi after they save the day from Ganondorf: Heh.. well, you do know they’re calling me some kind of… Legend.
Credits roll. https://t.co/RVxdjNdXMR pic.twitter.com/90nEkpAFXO
— Delta (@poopybunnydick) November 7, 2023
Can’t wait for the Nintendo direct where we find out link is also Chris Pratt pic.twitter.com/VRLTr8mg4d
— Paul Wilson (@PAULWILSON1000) November 7, 2023
Chris Pratt https://t.co/bEe379dSe1
— Nadine | #Aquanation (@NadineQueer) November 7, 2023
Or what about Pratt for not just Link but all the major roles?
dream cast of THE LEGEND OF ZELDA LIVE-ACTION
Chris Pratt as LINK
Chris Pratt as ZELDA
Chris Pratt as NAVI
Chris Pratt as TINGLEhe’s so cool. https://t.co/Ceo5YcGoEu pic.twitter.com/xcyX4dmFLT
— Sebs (@ProcyonSebs) November 7, 2023
Or why not both Tom Holland Chris Pratt?
Tom Holland as Young Link, Chris Pratt as Adult Link — we’ve won https://t.co/HOdrIhrlUh
— dannel awesome (danny barnes) (@Danny8bit) November 7, 2023
There were so many Tom Holland and Chris Pratt posts that eventually people made jokes about that.
“Tom Holland and Chris Pratt to be in the Zelda movie” jokes be like pic.twitter.com/yMTikSoSkQ
— Deji Majek (@Dejimon11) November 7, 2023
One person had a very outside-the-box suggestion: Give Link to Nathan Fielder.
Nathan Fielder has been cast as “Link” in the upcoming THE LEGEND OF ZELDA film. pic.twitter.com/KUESwfkbxJ
— Brian Altano (@agentbizzle) November 7, 2023
Seriously, make Nathan Fielder play Link.
(Via Variety)