Zelda Movie to be 'Live Action Miyazaki Flick' Not New Lord of the Rings; Director Reveals Ambitious Plans

Last month, Nintendo officially announced work on a live-action movie based on the famous The Legend of Zelda, which was launched by the company in the 1980s. We also learned that the movie will be helmed by Wes Ball, who is perhaps best known for directing the The Labyrinth Prisoner trilogy.

Related:Live-action The Legend of Zelda Movie is Coming; Prisoner of the Labyrinth Director at the Helm

The filmmaker recently gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly, in which he shared his vision for the emerging movie. According to the director, the adaptation will not be a new version of The Lord of the Rings, instead the director would like to incorporate elements characteristic of the works of Hayao Miyazaki.

Why Ball wants to avoid comparisons to The Lord of the Rings? Well, the hit Nintendo brand also features similar elements of the world - Hyrule also features, for example, elves or armed battles, so many people will necessarily look for comparisons between the two.

On the other hand, Miyazaki is a Japanese director who specializes in anime. His credits include such acclaimed films as Laputa - Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke or My Neighbor Totoro. His most recent work is The Boy and the Heron, which had its world premiere in July 2023.

We do not yet know when the live action adaptation in question will debut. The production is at an early stage, so we can guess that we will see it in theaters only a few years from now.

It is worth mentioning that Nintendo has seen great success in the movie industry this year. Super Mario Bros. the Movie drew crowds to theaters, so it's no surprise that the Japanese gaming giant wants to try to bring its next high-profile title to another medium.