This week, Nintendo released the first images from the upcoming live action Legend of Zelda film, via the Nintendo Today app. The Legend of Zelda movie is filming now, and will release in movie theaters on May 7, 2027.
The official Nintendo account on X/Twitter also broke the news, with a message from producer and series creator Shigeru Miyamoto:
This is Miyamoto. We have officially begun filming the live-action movie adaptation of “The Legend of Zelda” in the magnificent great outdoors, together with Bo Bragason, who plays Zelda, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, who plays Link. The filming is progressing smoothly, so I would appreciate it if you could quietly watch over us. The theatrical release is scheduled for May 7, 2027. Please wait just a little longer.
The first image shows gaming royalty Link and Princess Zelda looking all pensive and heroic amidst rolling hills (the movie is being filmed in New Zealand, similar to Lord of the Rings). Link is wearing his classic green tunic, while Zelda has her blue adventuring garb from the more recent Zelda games. Zelda is also wielding a bow and a arrows. Zelda games as far back as Ocarina of Time (1998) have painted the princess as less of a damsel and more of a crafty hero and adventurer in her own right (though she’s totally fridged in Tears of the Kingdom).
In the movie, Link is played by Evan Ainsworth, and Zelda by Bo Bragason. Both are young British actors. Bragason has started in BBC series, while Ainsworth has appeared in several Netflix shows. The film is directed by Wes Ball, who did last year’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, as well as the dystopian YA trilogy, Maze Runner.
We don’t yet know the plot details, or what era or timeline the film will be using.
Link is also famous as being one of the original silent protagonists, which has continued throughout the decades. They made it work with Mario (who also doesn’t speak much in games) in the recent Mario movie, though that was animation.
The next Mario movie, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, is coming to theaters on April 3, 2026.
