Zelda Movie Director Reveals What He's Learned From Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Wes Ball gives Zelda fans a hint at how he'll approach the Nintendo adaptation.

By Marc Deschamps

Last year, Nintendo and Sony announced a live-action movie based on The Legend of Zelda. So far, details have been kept well under wraps, but we do know that the film will be directed by Wes Ball. Ball also happens to be the director of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which is set to arrive in theaters this month. As part of that film's promotion, Ball took part in a Reddit AMA, where (unsurprisingly) he was asked quite a few questions about Zelda. While he did not offer any specific details, he did reveal some of the lessons he plans to carry over from his current film. 

"Keep the money on the screen. Be ambitious. Be confident in the talent around you. Try to do something great," Ball replied. 

It will be interesting to watch how these lessons carry over, especially once both films have been released. Obviously, Ball's comments don't give fans much to go on right now, but the director did note that "I love Zelda and I'll work my ass off to make something great for us." 

An Ambitious Video Game Adaptation

The Legend of Zelda is one of the biggest video game franchises of all-time. The series has been going strong since 1986, and has a passionate following around the world. Trying to adapt Zelda to the big screen alone is ambitious, and there are so many different ways that the movie can go while bringing in elements from the games. At this time, we have no idea if Ball plans on trying to adapt a single game, like Ocarina of Time or Breath of the Wild. Both of those would make perfect sense, and would give the movie a major sense of scale. However, it also seems more likely that the film will pick elements from various games and combine them together. 

Bringing Nintendo Games to the Big Screen

Ball's take on The Legend of Zelda will mark just the second time a Nintendo property has gotten a live-action adaptation, following 1993's Super Mario Bros. movie. The failure of that movie convinced Nintendo to steer clear of Hollywood adaptations for decades. Thankfully, things have changed quite a bit since then, as video game adaptations have become increasingly lucrative. The days of movies and TV shows loosely connected to the games that inspired them are seemingly dead, with companies like Nintendo, Naughty Dog, and Bethesda being closely involved with the finished product. 

It remains to be seen whether Zelda will reach the same heights we've seen from so many other video game adaptations lately, but Ball seems to have a passion for the source material, and an ambition to deliver on the expectations of fans. Hopefully he can manage to pull it off. 

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Are you excited to check out the Zelda movie when it comes to theaters? What are you hoping to see from the movie? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!

[H/T: Nintendo Life]

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