This morning, Nintendo confirmed that a live action Zelda movie is in production. Nintendo and Arad Productions will produce the movie; interestingly, financing will be handled by Nintendo (for more than half of the budget) and Sony Pictures Entertainment, with the latter handling global theatrical distribution.

　　From Nintendo's side, legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto will be a producer alongside Avi Arad. Miyamoto-san shared a brief message on Nintendo's official Twitter account to comment on the Zelda movie news:

　　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. I have asked Avi-san to produce this film with me, and we have now officially started the development of the film with Nintendo itself heavily involved in the production. It will take time until its completion, but I hope you look forward to seeing it.

　　Indeed, Avi Arad has produced countless movies, from the original Spider-Man trilogy (the one featuring Tobey Maguire) to the two Spider-Man movies starring Andrew Garfield as well as the new ones with Tom Holland. He also worked on Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Ghost in the Shell, Venom, the animated films Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Uncharted.

　　According to Variety, the Zelda movie will be directed by Wes Ball, known for directing the Maze Runner trilogy and the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. The screenplay will be written by Derek Connolly, who worked on the Jurassic World trilogy, Kong: Skull Island, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, and Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker.

　　Around four months ago, film industry insider Jeff Sneider revealed that Nintendo was about to sign a deal with Illumination (the company behind the hugely successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie) to make a Zelda movie. However, Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri swiftly denied the rumor. Now we can see why: Nintendo is looking to make a live-action Zelda movie, and Illumination makes animated films.

　　This will be the first time Nintendo's acclaimed franchise makes it to theaters, undoubtedly on the heels of Tears of the Kingdom's release, as the latest installment sold nearly 20 million units in less than five months on the market.

　　Now, let the fan casting commence: who would you like to see playing Link and Zelda?