Miyamoto’s 10-year pursuit of a live-action Legend of Zelda movie faces “an extremely high hurdle” with fans

Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto has said regarding the upcoming live-action movie of The Legend of Zelda, that Nintendo will “face an extremely high hurdle” in order not to disappoint fans of the video game series.

In a recent investor’s presentation, Miyamoto said he’s discussed the project with Arad Productions chairman Avi Arad for “about ten years.”

“Regarding the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, I know we face an extremely high hurdle in producing a film that will not disappoint the global fan base,” said Miyamoto.

“Movies are just like games, in that you need to spend a lot of time working on them until you get to something you’re satisfied with. Movies, therefore, need sponsors who can lend their full support until completion. For the production of our movies, Nintendo itself acts as a sponsor. To produce the movie, we assembled a group of people willing to commit time to the production until we come up with something we feel confident about.

“For the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, Avi Arad and I are taking plenty of time to prepare. We hope to release something good that will meet everyone’s expectations, so please look forward to it.”

Nintendo announced this week it planned to develop a live-action film based on the lauded franchise. Miyamoto and Arad, as well as Nintendo and Arad’s production company, will produce, and Wes Ball, known for the Maze Runner trilogy, will direct.

The film will be co-financed by Nintendo and Sony Pictures Entertainment, with 50% financed by Nintendo. The theatrical distribution of the film will be done worldwide by Sony Pictures.