The Legend of Zelda touched down in Sin City on Monday, with Sony teasing the upcoming video game adaptation during the studio’s CinemaCon presentation.
First-look images from director Wes Ball’s live-action film had been released in November, and at CinemaCon, president of Sony’s motion picture group Sanford Panitch announced that the movie had recently finished principal photography. Sony did not reveal new images or details about the feature that counts Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad as producers.
“We just wrapped production on Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda — based, perhaps, on the most beloved gaming franchise of all time that sold over 180 million copies in four decades,” Panitch said. “It has been produced by the creator himself, Miyamoto, along with Avi Arad, and it’s directed by Wes Ball, whose most recent Planet of the Apes movie was a box office hit.”
The exec continued, “The film releases worldwide May 7th, 2027. We and the legion of fans everywhere cannot wait. And video game adaptations continue to be a significant focus for us.”
This adaptation comes from a team-up between Sony and Nintendo and is set for release on May 7, 2027. Ball, the filmmaker behind Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and the Maze Runner trilogy, is directing; young actors Bo Bragason (known for her roles in BBC One’s Three Girls and The Jetty) and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth (Pinocchio, The Haunting of Bly Manor) are starring as the magical Princess Zelda and the swordsman Link, respectively.
Nintendo has been increasingly getting into the theatrical space in recent years, to quite successful results; 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie reached $1.36 billion worldwide, while sequel The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, released earlier this month, is already at over $600,000 worldwide. Zelda is another one of Nintendo’s major franchises, and previous adaptations have been attempted over the years, but nothing solidified until Sony announced development of the film in 2023.
CinemaCon, the annual gathering of cinema owners and Hollywood studios, is hosted in Las Vegas by Cinema United, formerly known as the National Association of Theatre Owners. This year’s edition runs from April 13-16.
