Entertainment reporter
Getty ImagesThe new film adaptation of the Legend of Zelda video game series will see two young British actors take on the leading roles, Nintendo has announced.
Renegade Nell star Bo Bragason, 21, has been cast as Princess Zelda, while Pinocchio’s Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, 16, will play the role of Link.
Announcing the news on X, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto said he was “very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen”.
This will be the first attempt to make a Zelda film, although the franchise previously had an animated TV series in 1989.
Bragason has previously appeared in Disney+ series Renegade Nell and the BBC series Three Girls and The Jetty. She has also appeared in horror films Censor and The Radleys.
Ainsworth’s screen credits include the 2022 live-action remake of Pinocchio, starring Tom Hanks, as well as The Haunting of Bly Manor, Everything’s Going to Be Great, and All Fun and Games opposite Sex Education’s Asa Butterfield.
The Legend of Zelda film is scheduled to be released in May 2027.
Director plans ‘serious but whimsical’ adaptation
The game follows Princess Zelda and the elf-like warrior Link as they fight to save the land of Hyrule from an evil warlord-turned-demon king called Ganon.
In the games, Link never speaks, but fans have speculated this won’t be the case in the film. Similarly, Princess Zelda is expected to have significantly more screen time in the film adaptation than she does in the games.
The live-action film was announced in 2023, when Sony confirmed it would collaborate with Nintendo to co-finance the project.
It will be directed by Wes Ball, best known for The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and The Maze Runner.
Ball previously told Total Film: “I know it’s important, this [Zelda] franchise, to people and I want it to be a serious movie… a real movie that can give people an escape.”
“That’s the thing I want to try to create – it’s got to feel like something real. Something serious and cool, but fun and whimsical.”
Jurassic World’s Derek Connolly was previously announced as the film’s writer, but the latest draft has been written by Ball’s previous collaborator TS Nowlin.
Getty ImagesThe Legend of Zelda game franchise was created by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, with the first game launching in 1986.
Since then, the franchise as remained one of Nintendo’s best known brands, and has sold more than 150 million copies across its multiple instalments over various consoles.
Video game adaptations have had a mixed reception at the box office over the years. Many, such as Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat, were not always as well received as their source material.
But more recently, the success of The Super Mario Bros Movie, Sonic The Hedgehog, A Minecraft Movie and Uncharted, along with the TV adaptation of The Last of Us, has gone some way to turning the tables.
The film is being produced by Miyamoto and former Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad.
Its launch date of 7 May 2027 was originally due to be the release date of Avengers: Secret Wars, until it was delayed until December.
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