A fan made live action version of the Zelda franchise has been canceled due to Nintendo's interference.
The world of movie adaptations of video games is a fascinating one. There are quite good ones out there, but also a lot of really horrible approaches.
Back in the days when there was basically nothing more important to me than Super Mario, I saw the Super Mario Bros. movie and was... let’s just say I didn’t make an excited Toad-scream but more of a disappointed Thwomp “Hnguuu...”
In 2023, we got the animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie and it felt like Nintendo finally made up for what they did to the child version of myself.
Maybe it’s just live action adaptations that have a hard time being actually good, or it’s just very specific games that would fit into a live action version – like The Legend of Zelda.
Triforce Popcorn Bucket, Anyone?
Come one, who hasn’t thought about Tom Holland pulling the Master Sword out of the stone in the Lost Woods or Thomas Brodie-Sangster playing the ocarina? The mix of action, lore and fantasy elements that defines the Zelda franchise is perfect for a movie adaptation... as long as Link would be more than the “link” between movie and audience as he is in the games, and has actual lines instead of “hah hua hyaaa”-ing his way through Hyrule.
Something like that probably inspired director and actor Chris Carpenter to launch a Kickstarter campaign to bring his own Zelda movie to life.
Lost in Hyrule
Carpenter planned to play the role of the pointy-eared Hero of Time himself while the movie named “Lost in Hyrule” was supposed to be set after the events of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask to bring the adventures of this timeline’s Link to an end.
In the beginning it looked quite well, fans wanted them to "shut up and take their rupees" and the campaign raised nearly $24,000. But after Nintendo took notice of the project, they interfered faster than a silver lynel with a red exclamation mark over his head.
The film’s producer Dio Traverso confirmed on the Kickstarter page that the movie had been shuttered and that the money from the campaign won’t be collected.
There Is Still Hope... Kinda
Even though this is bad news for the backers and everyone involved in the project, fans that just want to see Beetle carrying his big bug backpack on the big screen will be happy to hear that Nintendo is already working together with Sony Pictures on their own live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda, even though there have been no news about it since 2023.
P.S.: Please no "Ganondorf sings for Zelda"-scene played by Jack Black...
What are your thoughts on Nintendo shutting down this fan project? Which other games would you like to see as a movie?
