Game designer and Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto has addressed concerns surrounding the upcoming The Legend of Zelda movie in light of the mixed critical response to The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While grossing an impressive $1.362 billion at the worldwide box office, the animated adaptation of Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. games garnered mixed reactions from critics, many of whom took issue with the movie’s relatively thin plot and voice performances. Nonetheless, the game adaptation was an unqualified financial success, and has undoubtedly helped pave the way for the announcement of a live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda games.
Speaking during a Q&A held at a recent Nintendo financial earnings call (via ComicBook.com), Miyamoto spoke about the new live-action The Legend of Zelda movie and the considerable work that has already gone into the project. Revealing that he has been speaking with producer Avi Arad for the past 10 years about the movie, he acknowledged the high bar they will face in making a movie that will not disappoint the existing fanbase. Check out his comments below:
Regarding the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, I know we face an extremely high hurdle in producing a film that will not disappoint the global fan base. With this challenge in mind, I have been discussing this project with Avi Arad, Chairman of Arad Productions Inc., for about 10 years. Movies are just like games, in that you need to spend a lot of time working on them until you get to something you’re satisfied with. Movies therefore need sponsors who can lend their full support until completion. For the production of our movies, Nintendo itself acts as a sponsor. To produce the movie, we were able to assemble a group of people who are willing to commit time to the production until we come up with something we feel confident about. […] We hope to release something good that will meet everyone’s expectations, so please look forward to it.
Can The Zelda Movie Match Super Mario’s Success?
Despite some less than enthusiastic critical responses to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, its multiple box-office-record-breaking run seemingly spoke far louder than the movie’s mixed reviews. Second only to Warner Bros. smash summer hit Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie remains the second highest grossing movie of 2023 and the only video game adaptation to surpass over $1 billion worldwide. The question that remains, however, is whether Nintendo can potentially match this kind of box-office windfall with their live-action The Legend of Zelda movie.
Much like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda games have a long history dating as far back as Nintendo’s original NES game console, with a string of later installments devised for every subsequent console and handheld device launched by the gaming giant. However, one advantage that The Legend of Zelda does have over Super Mario Bros. is its richly detailed fantasy world. With the benefit of an intricate backstory honed over the course of decades, the sheer depth of the franchise’s established story could easily overcome the kinds of criticism leveled at The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s more predictable plotline.
Moreover, with The Legend of Zelda games already borrowing heavily from the kinds of established fantasy tropes made famous by properties such as The Lord of the Rings and The Wheel of Time, its own live-action debut has the potential to see the movie stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the most popular entries in the genre. Whether The Legend of Zelda movie lives up to its enormous potential remains to be seen, but if the team being led by director Wes Ball gets the story right, they have every chance of surpassing even the enormous financial success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
