We HAVE to Talk About the Zelda Movie! 

I'm looking forward to the fifteen minute long segment in the middle where Link decides to ignore the plot and run off to find Koroks for a while.

I’m not worried about it being game-accurate because of Miyamoto. I am however worried about Avi Arad.

As an Irish person, hearing ye trying to say Saoirse Ronan's name was so funny

Del Toro should do a Majoras Mask movie in the future that would be sick!

About Link talking in the movie: it IS possible to have a film where the protagonist doesn’t talk, or barely talks. Have y’all not seen Mad Max: Fury Road? The protagonist barely speaks in that movie. They could possibly do the same for Link. It’s hard, but they could.

"ghost in the shell.. hooray!!" I don't recall that reaction when the movie came out.

As a Spider-Man fan I'd like to extend my condolences to the Zelda community for this development. You are as they say, "completely f*cked"

One thing I'll say is that "Cast Away" (the Ton hanks film) was predominantly a silent film. He could maybe just be "a quiet kid", and have exposition delivered by others. I can't quite wrap my head around a live-action Zelda, though.

What a great chat, guys. I'm not yet sold on the live-action route, but I would love to see Ocarina of Time adapted. It's been a fan dream of mine for decades to see it in film form. Still, Nintendo being Nintendo could surprise us all with an original story, and that would be okay, too, but the video game community would be pretty pumped about Ocarina. I also loved your idea of a 2-parter BOTW/TOTK adaptation. Imagine the final showdown in TOTK on a movie screen! My dream cast would feature mostly unknowns. You could drop in some famous cameos, but new folks would be ideal so long as they're also fantastic actors

To follow up on Steve's suggestion; have it be a trilogy where Film 1 is Age of Calamity (only without the time travel malarkey), Film 2 is Breath of the Wild and Film 3 is Tears of the Kingdom.

Stoked to have Rebecca as a part of this discussion! I always love her thoughts on Nintendo games, especially LoZ.

Just because Link isn't audibly talking in the games, he does talk. Just look at all the dialogue options in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Though soft spoken, Link is a smart ass

I'm a little worried that Nintendo seems to be going very Hollywood with their movies. It worked out fine for the voice cast of Mario, but idk about a live action Zelda ... like I hope they don't just pick really popular actors because they can. Super curious to see what they do with it though.

Danny DeVito as Tingle and Micheal Cera as Beedle

From what we know of the film so far, these are the people involved with the various aspects of the film: 1) Sony Pictures is handling distribution and is developing it alongside Nintendo. 2) Derek Connolly will be writing the screenplay. Notable works (for better or for worse) are the Jurassic World trilogy, Detective Pikachu, Kong: Skull Island, Monster Trucks, Safety Not Guaranteed (his debut), and the Rise of Skywalker. As such, it's hit (Kong, Safety Not Guaranteed, Detective Pikachu, and Jurassic World) or miss (Monster Trucks, the latter two Jurassic World movies from a critical standpoint [depending on who you ask], and the Rise of Skywalker). He's also penning part of the Metal Gear Solid movie. 3) Wes Ball is the director. His notable director roles are the Maze Runner Trilogy and the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes film. As such, somewhat limited experience. 4) Miyamoto is co-producing it with Avi Arad, Ball, and Joe Hartwick Jr. Avi Arad is someone who really requires a leash as he made several iffy decisions in past Marvel films after having success until after Spider-Man 2. Avi Arad does make good decisions once a decade (he's the reason why the Spot was one of the main villains in Spider-Verse 2), but he needs to be surrounded by people who will push back. I'll hold my judgment until a trailer for the film comes out, but I'm not holding my breath about this being a super success like the Mario movie.

The problem for me comes with how they'll make the characters. They always had their own unique expressiveness and personality coming off of their design. I just don't see it transitioning well into a big budget movie. Oh well, maybe I'll be proven wrong when we see the trailer, I'm just very reluctant about it for now.

In terms of tone, I can see it much more as something close to the new Dugeons & Dragons than The Witcher.

If we are not getting an animated movie, here is what I wanted to see in a Zelda live action version: -History of Hyrule, the Goddess Hylia, Demon King Demise and the Triforce - Ganondorf as the main baddy with some more in depth into his character - Link x Princess Zelda's relationship. - Cast anyone that isn’t Tom Holland for Link. - Link’s inner struggle between being a Hero of Hyrule and his own happiness. - An original story ( not a copy of OT, BOTW or TOTK) that is well structured with it's own set of characters, a new version of Hyrule, and a epic action- fantasy with a dash of gritty realism that is build by confident writers.

I would actually be super happy if they contracted Jim Henson Company to do the make up effects /animatronics (ala The Dark Crystal) or the Stan Winston Legacy studios (special effects crew behind T2 and og Jurassic Park.) Though, I am certain most of this movie will be CG. Regardless, I know Nintendo will make this a great product.

As an Irish man, the mispronunciation of Saoirse Ronan is absolutely killing me! Hahaha! It's SEER-SHA or SUR-SHA (like inertia) depending on regional accent, Yeah, Irish phonetics are very different.

OoT is definitely the most coherent and complete story of the entire series.

I would be way more interested in a ghibli style animated Zelda movie. Just give us a gorgeously animated 2d zelda movie. Considering how much both Botw and Totk pulls from Mononoke, it makes so much sense.

God why does it have to be live action I can't imagine anyone dressed up like Link and not looking super awakward

The silent movie protagonist thing worked out well for the quiet place

I really don’t want this to be a generic dark fantasy movie with over dramatic acting. I hope it maintains the lighthearted side and goofy of the series while also delving into some dark moments, because that’s what Zelda is. It’s a big part of what sets it apart from other fantasy franchises for me. As for predictions, I’m gonna need Link to say “well excuse me, princess” to Zelda just once.

Link should talk in the movie. Read the Zelda manga if you are that convinced Link doesn't work in speaking roles. Don't use a 30+ year old cartoon made in a time TV animation's biggest priority was to sell toys as a reason for Link not to speak. Edit: I thought Ash would be the one to vouch for Link speaking, he was the one who controversially said Link should speak when another character speaks to him.

I definitely agree with the notion that Link and Zelda should not be played as people approaching 30

I hope they make Link a "man of few words" sort of character, but I still can't wrap my head around him talking at all. It'll be nice to see but also very weird! 😆

Zelda Williams would be perfect to cast as Zelda

Rebecca actually pronounced Saoirse much more correctly than Ash!

9:25 you know that ocarina of time Link is based off on Leonardo DiCaprio

Remember when there was rumors that netflix was making a live action zelda series ahhhhh good times :’)

Honestly if we're doing a games story adaptation i would love to see A Link to the Past be made. The story itself could work as a movie.

I know it might not happen. But if Link does speak, I'm hoping Link will say " WELL EXCUSE ME PRINCESS! ". That would be an nice Easter Egg.

11:05 I agree that link not talking isn’t a problem for the most part my biggest problem is the game has cutscenes where he really should say something like there will be these very emotional scenes that shown be powerful lol but become laughable like Zelda being dead and link just sits there like 😐

Link: Well Excuuuuseeee Me Princesss!!! Honestly I would have preferred an animated movie more But I think Shigeru Miyamoto, and Avi Arad are going to put as much care and love into making this. As good of Zelda story, as we can get.

The thing people need to keep in mind is that Link has plenty of excellent adaptations where he speaks. It absolutely can and has worked for decades, in comic books exclusively. No one knows this because no one reads comics. When people think talking Link they immediately think CDI and 80 Zelda Cartoon.

I think it actually would work a lot better to do a series (like The Witcher, TLOU). I worry trying to cram an entire games plot into two hours won’t work well.

Very true!

Y'all really have completely purged "Excuuuse me, Princess" from your memories, huh?

I don't mind Wes Ball because I never watched the Maze Runner films but regarding him as a director, GameXplain did a discussion about this recently and Joey said something that rang true to me. It seems the reason they hired Wes Ball was because he seems like the kind of director that is hired to do exactly what a studio asks him to do, regardless of the quality of the final product. That is also the problem with a lot of Hollywood franchises today, studios hire small directors that they could easily control and that will play ball (no pun intended) with the studio. There are a few exceptions like the Barbie movie where a small director/auteur like Greta Gerwig was able to write the script and bring her vision to the screen. The result? It's the biggest movie of 2023 and everybody loved it. However, as much as we love Nintendo, we know they will never do that.

Read between the lines, people, with Nintendo producing and, notably, Sony distributing. Everything is now planned for sequels/franchises, so assume this will be a live-action CD-i *trilogy*: 2025: The Legend of Zelda: The Wand of Gamalon 2027: The Legend of Zelda: The Faces of Evil 2028: The Legend of Zelda: Zelda’s Adventure

I really like the idea of Kumail Nanjiani as Ganon - I think it would be really awesome to get desi actors casted for gerudo characters in general.

14:59 hear me out- The great calamity Especially if we focus on link, we can really explore how much pressure he was under and what that did to him. It would also fit a film format more than most of the games, with plenty of room to fill the gaps

Saoirse is pronounced SEER-SA, as an Irish person, I can tell you it is quite a unique & rare name, even in Ireland and like many Irish names, it is hard for anyone outside to pronounce. I would of like to seen Ray Stevenson as Ganondorf, but unfortunately he has since passed away.

Going for known but not huge actors, Joseph Quinn and Grace Van Dien. They had amazing chemistry and could be the project to bring them back together. They don't need to be so young. Ganondorf NEEDS to be Middle Eastern or North African. For now, I would pick Navid Negahban. Also Saoirse is pronounced Sir-shah, light on the h.

I agree that Zelda should and most likely will get a more prominent role, but I don’t want it to be at Link’s expense. No “I don’t need saving!” “Well Excuuuuse me, Princess!” OoT does it well. Just have them working together, saving each other as equals, it’s not hard.

With how much I enjoyed this movie, I’m honestly cautiously optimistic for it. While a Zelda animated movie by Studio Ghibli would’ve definitely been the ideal scenario, I honestly thought the chances of it happening were pretty slim. And I’ve personally thought Zelda would work well in live-action as a more fantastical version of Lord of the Rings, or a PG-13 version of Game of Thrones…just with much less politics, and also…y’know. I do think giving Link full dialogue would suffice too, as he talks all the time in the Zelda manga, and they portray him well for the most part as a selfless and adventurous hero. Whatever the case for this movie, being that we know practically nothing about it, I just hope it does the series justice in the same way the Mario movie did by satisfying and paying homage to the fans of the games while introducing a huge swathe of new people to the series who don’t typically play videogames. Just with hopefully a far better story, being that Zelda is much more well known for it.

I always dreamed of a trilogy that starts with Ocarina of Time, goes to Majora’s Mask, and then ends with a slightly different Twilight Princess

If they cast The Rock as Ganondorf, it’s over lmao 🤣

I'm super excited for this! Zelda is my favorite video game of all time and I've been wanting a movie forever. In terms of story, I hope they go the route of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Making an original story with lots of references to the series history. They'll likely do something like Link searching for the Triforce. If it was 100% up to me, I'd have the story focus on Link and Zelda directly after the events of Skyward Sword. Finding Hyrule and fighting the first Ganondorf reincarnation.

If Link _has_ to speak, I'd love if they kept it to a few short sentences. Things like "Yes, Princess." "Stay close." "It's Ganon."

Honestly, my big concern is *how* they'd bring Link into live-action in a way that isn't jarring... like the green outfit + tights might look a bit weird, and then you need believable hair (compared to his anime hair). For the story, I'm not totally sure which one they would adapt (if they don't just do an original story). I think most of the games have way too much going on to fit into a movie (although the over-simplifications in the manga may be better source material), but I think aside from OOT that Hyrule Warriors could be an interesting candidate.

Kumail Nanjiani is an inspired choice. I lazily went to actors that are known for being tall and muscular and playing imposing characters but I absolutely think Kumail could do it. Shame that Ray Stevenson is no longer with us…

I believe Esme Creed-Miles could be a really good portrayal of a young Zelda.

Okay, all joking aside, we're looking for a courageous action hero with a heart of gold and a boyish look, who can play believably smart and competent while also having a goofy side. Bonus points if they're a big name you can toss on the marquis who still does genre movies. Hand that to any casting director in Hollywood and they're giving Tom Holland

I’d go with a cloud atlas approach. We see link, Zelda, ganondorf, and all the cast through various incarnations and ancestors over time. Start medieval, grow up to the futuristic city, where at the end ganon is just tired. The world has changed, the people he fought for have been dead for centuries, yet here he is still stuck in this loop of fighting and losing over and over and over again. He’s done with it all. The ending is the trio finally ending the cycle in another way.

Off the wall cast predictions for a Breath of the Wild adaptation: Link: Dylan Minnette Zelda: Florence Pugh Ganondorf: Christian Bale King Hyrule: Liam Neeson Beetle: Elijah Wood

I'm cautiously optimistic about a Zelda live-action film. However, there's one casting idea I brought up in a Discord server I frequent which none of you mentioned which I'll voice here: Daisy Ridley as Zelda. If Nintendo want the princess to be more competent and involved with the plot as well as in on the action for a Zelda film, what better person than Rey herself? Granted, you'd get the so-called Star Wars "fans" out for blood about it, but they can all go hang for all I care. Anyway, keep up the great work!

I think that the best way to go in terms of adapting an existing story while making it a solid trilogy: The Calamity (with a canon ending that links to BotW) Breath of the Wild Tears of the Kingdom The reason why Ocarina of Time doesn't work other than a series is because there's too much to pack in a single movie, even two. I just can't imagine a rushed retelling of each dungeon or worse, two collages for both halves. It just doesn't work. The Calamity trilogy would work wonders in movie format. AoC has a solid story that, just as they said in this discussion, would immediately hook people with the "we lost everything" cliffhanger. BotW capitalizes on the cliffhanger as a follow-up, acting as a transition story that lays the foundation for TotK and even starts asking about the Zonai, just to make them relevant and hint at their existence, as well as the worlds above and below. Maybe a scene during the Vah Medoh fight when Link believes to have seen a golden dragon and floating islands, and the post-credits scene shows Kohga unveiling the vast darkness of The Depths, and as Link ascends to the Atrium to fight Ganon, he comes across the stone tablet within the castle that talks about Rauru, the first king who sealed the Demon King. TotK delivers by putting together all the things discovered across the first movies and goes on to finish the story with the same grandiose finale in the sky, which is super-powerful and would immediately solidify Zelda as a series of movies with simple yet impactful storytelling.

The guy that played Jet in the live action cowboy bebop should play Ganon

If they use semi-practical effects to create the fantasy races and creatures, and they manage to pull off the quirky stylization that the games bring when it comes to the immersive world and the cultures within then I think everything else will fall into place. Once the world has been created with love that passion will permeate every aspect of production. Also, if they manage to make Link a mostly non-verbal autistic I will never be happier. It's a stretch but I would love that. Also, I'm looking it up now but... BotW explains why Link doesn't talk?!?!

Somebody is going to sneak in the line “come back when you’re richer”

I think if links voice is received well enough he will speak in the next game

Please dont make Zelda a "boss babe". Just make her a developed character

Momoa as Ganon? Maybe, but he'd be a PERFECT Demise. A few movies down the line if they hopefully decide to tackle Skyward Sword that'd be amazing.

1. Look up the name Alex Lange. He is literally perfect casting for Link. 2. Zelda going that grimdark will isolate the fanbase. The darkest they'd go is Lord of the Rings. Though I hope they make it more like Chronicles of Narnia, which is basically Lord of the Rings for kids. And that's how I see Zelda. Lord of the Rings for kids. 3. Miyamoto is the one who suggested Mario hate Mushrooms in the Mario Movie.

What about Christopher Judge as Ganondorf?

British person here - it's pronounced Sur-Sha Ronan ☺️

Walker Scobell would be my pick for Link. He really looks the part. He was only really in The Adam Project, but this would be a huge opportunity for him.

I want the movie to give us a better explanation/look into the role of the Spirit of the Hero. Remember, most Links tend to be around 10 years of age in games and they are well versed in Sword fighting. Some have a Master that has been teaching them, others are self-taught and few never held a sword until the day duty called. I've always believe that is where the Spirit of the Hero fit into the narrative, all the knowledge of weapon handling, fighting monsters and etc, is just passed down as an instinct from Hero to Hero. Selling the name Link even deeper as a world mechanic, think One for All from MHA.

Freya Allan. Ciri from Witcher. My Zelda ❤

I'm wishing it's a loose adaptation of Skyward Sword. To me it makes sense, it's the beginning reguarding lore, Hylia's sacrifice, origin of Ganon. If the movie does well they're started well off too retell Oot and go through child timeline. Think it'd go well if they could get younger actors for the roles and use them throughout the Zelda Movies

I think the easy way is to adapt partially Zelda 1, like the Mario movie in that sense, cause that give us all the essential characters, with Zelda, Link, Impa and Ganon, with an adventure about finding the 8 pieces of the triforce, and then we can visit iconic locations from Zelda, like Kakariko, Zora's domain, and so, even if those characters are not from that game, with dungeons, objects, fairies, Horses, knights, and maybe the sages history or so, also the Link's talking subject is perfectly on the manga adaptations, it's fabulous, so it's not that an issue, at least not an important one, but the other safe way is to treat this like a new Zelda game, with it's own history, like a new entry on the Zelda series, with certain things in common with the games, like those Zelda games we all love, adapt Ocarina is too complicated, and the fact that every Zelda has a unique history and experience is different from any Mario game for example or any other Nintendo IP, like Metroid, or Star Fox, and even Kid Icarus, all those games had a secuential storytelling, so this is a different case, even A Link to the past is a good choice too, but everything depends on what is the path Nintendo and Sony are going

I think they will go for a more Jumanji kid-friendly vibe (the reboot one) than a really dark movie.

Only way Link doesn't speak is if they make this a completely new story and make him deaf. Which, if done well, would actually be kinda cool.

Having it be live action is already a huge miss, since one of the big appeals of Zelda is the different art styles the games have over the years. Current Zelda producer Aonuma and the team deliberately didn't want a realistic Zelda, so they created Wind Waker instead. Link speaking in the film is fine, since the manga has done it for decades and people don't make a big deal out of it. The farewell between Link and Zelda in the Ocarina of Time manga is actually quite emotional since we get to see their bond develop in the story.

Still excited I was expecting an anime style Zelda film first but as long as Nintendo puts the care and dedication into it like the Mario movie I think this will turn out to be a great film. I think now Nintendo believes they can pull off a Zelda movie like this or I honestly don’t think Nintendo would even be trying to make this film so positive expectations.

Roman Reigns as Ganondorf would be PERFECT

My pick for Link would be Asher Angel. Hunter Schafer would be a great Zelda. I actually think Henry Cavill would be a great Gannondorf, but I would prefer mostly unknowns.

I could easily see Kumail Nanjiani as Ganondorf he'd probably kill it tbh

If they do decide to double dip for Zelda then I'd LOVE Anya-Taylor Joy as Zelda.

Hey GVG! I'm honestly callously optimistic for this, but I'm not sure what to expect in terms of the story for it though. If it's an adaptation of any past Zelda game, I see Twilight Princess being the best fit visually, but I don't know how likely that is.

Nicolas Cage played a mute protagonist in Wally’s Wonderland

It would be awesome for link to realize his bullet time skill or come to understand that Gannon can do it too

If theyre doing OoT, the only casting i can think of would be... Sophie Ellis as zelda, and Jack Black.... As Darunia

Just saying, Dragonforce just released a song about Zelda... You got the money Nintendo DO IT

Had to do a double-take myself, but the Dave Bautista film is Knock at the Cabin, not Cabin in the Woods. But true, he was really good there! Even if his intimidation was rather gentle.

Hearing Sadie being brought up was awesome. She’s also the lady who plays the counterpart to Taylor Swift in the All Too Well 10 Minute Version short movie.

Rebecca saying that she would rather have Zendaya as Zelda in the movie rather than Tom Holland as Link (I'm against the casting as well) made me lose so much respect for her Zelda actually has a personality

The character of Agahnim is basically Ganondorf as Ganondorf described Agahnim as his Bunshin(other self/part of oneself/alter-ego/offshoot/clone/soul split), in Ancient stone tablets Agahnim is a man possessed by a part of Ganondorf's soul and in A link to the past Ganondorf's spirit rises up from Agahnim's corpse so the character that speaks through Agahnim's mouth is Ganondorf. The manga chose to seperate the two.

7:25 you say that a silent protagonist can’t work in movie format but may I direct your attention to Hardcore Henry as an example

They need to go the Lord of the Rings route and go with actors we don't know who are all trained British theatre actors. I cannot express enough how bad Tom Holland as Link would kill this film.

20:34 Honestly if they did Twilight Princess then she would make a good Twili Midna.

Don't underestimate Nintendo's willingness to go dark with Zelda. In the officially licensed Twilight Princess manga, Link gets dismembered and drowned to death. In the first few chapters.

For Ganondorf I’d definitely go with a WWE wrestler. You’d need someone large and imposing. Obviously they need to be good at acting. For Zelda I’d go with Frey Allen who played Ciri in the Witcher. For Link I’d go with a young, early 20’s up and coming actor But if we’re being realistic we’re getting Tom Holland as Link and the Rock as Ganondorf

I could actually see that. Link is majorly a combination a honorable warrior and a simple man. Outside of fighting he is kind of a goofball, especially in BoTW. Tom Holland has played multiple roles that I think fits that description. He has the correct build for it even. I know it kinda feels like the Chris Pratt Mario equivalent for LoZ, but legitimately I see it working. EDIT: Timothy Chalamet is a really good pick too. I don't know anything about him really but he definitely looks the part. New name is also viable. I didn't want to say it since it doesn't work well for fan casting, but honestly with video game movies I'd like to see more new faces than anything.

Like 20 years ago my picks were Orlando Bloom and Liv Tyler for Link and Zelda. Of course I had just watched Fellowship of the Ring so they were probably everyone's top picks. They're too old now.

Sair-sha Ronan, for those confused on pronunciation of Saoirse Ronan - it’s an Irish name

Guys, hear me out, Pedro Pascal as Tingle.