Nintendo’s ‘Legend of Zelda’ movie confirm casting of Zelda and Link
Video-game lovers everywhere will be delighted to know that Nintendo’s live-action Legend of Zelda now has a Zelda and a Link.
Nintendo’s game director, Shigeru Miyamoto, announced on July 16th that Bo Bragason will play Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth will play Link. “I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen,” he said.
Along with the announcement, a split image depicted two pictures showing the actors in costume, with a green background behind them.
Bragason is known for playing Roxy in the 2024 Disney+ TV series Renegade Nell. She is also familiar with the film circuit after appearing in the 2024 film The Radleys.
Though Ainsworth’s name might not be familiar, his voice may well be. The young actor voiced Pinocchio in Robert Zemeckis’ live-action Pinocchio. He also played Miles in the Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor. Ainsworth also stars in the Canadian comedy series Son of a Critch and appeared in an episode of Netflix’s The Sandman.
Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind The Maze Runner, will direct the film. It will be co-produced by Sony and Nintendo. Elsewhere, it has also been confirmed that Derek Connolly will be penning the script for the new film. Connolly’s name is attached to successes such as 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed and 2015’s Jurassic World.
The project hopes to follow the successful path set out by the 2023 film Super Mario Bros. Movie, which made $1.361 billion at the worldwide box office against a budget of $100 million.
First released in 1986, The Legend of Zelda has steadily become one of Nintendo’s most critically and commercially successful products. With 29 games to its name (including ports, remakes, and collections), the most recent instalment in the action-adventure series was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in 2023, a game that helped the franchise sell nearly 200 million units since its inception in the late 1980s.
The live-action film will be released in theatres on May 7th, 2027.
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