The movie take on Nintendo’s The Legend Of Zelda has been delayed a couple of months to a prime summer slot in 2027.
Sony has delayed its upcoming take on The Legend Of Zelda by pushing it from a March 2027 release slot into May of the same year. While it might be just a couple of months on the calendar, that moves the film into a prime release slot for Sony, with the 7th May slot marking the first release of the annual blockbuster season.
However, the move is being delayed for production reasons rather than a promotional ploy, although Sony won’t care what the root cause of the pushback is. Especially if The Legend Of Zelda can go on to emulate 2023’s The Super Mario Bros Movie, also a film based on popular Nintendo characters and a record-breaking smash. That film was only outgrossed that year at the global box office by Barbie.
There are a few fundamental differences between the two films, of course. The Super Mario Bros Movie was an animated film while The Legend Of Zelda will be live action, though the fantasy adventure is said to draw inspiration from the more whimsical style of Studio Ghibli filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki.
Wes Ball, director of 2024’s Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, is attached to make the film. He popped up in 2023 when the film was first announced to offer a brief take on the direction we can expect his Zelda film to aim for, describing it as “this awesome fantasy-adventure movie that isn’t like Lord Of The Rings, it’s its own thing. I’ve always said, I would love to see a live-action Miyazaki,” he added. “That wonder and whimsy that he brings to things, I would love to see something like that.”
As for that date change, Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto – who is producing the feature – explained the delay on X, saying, “This is Miyamoto. For production reasons, we are changing the release date of the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda to May 7, 2027. It will be some weeks later than the release timing we originally announced, and we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it [can be].”
The new date change means Zelda will no longer be competing with Godzilla X Kong: Supernova (set to open on Zelda’s old release date), and Sonic The Hedgehog 4 which arrives mid-March.
We’ll bring you more on The Legend Of Zelda as we hear it.
