As of writing, Nintendo and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is the most successful film of the year so far. With a $1.21 billion gross off a $100 million budget, the film has been a stellar success even if it didn’t please the critics.
Along the way, it has racked up countless records – the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film, the highest-grossing film based on a video game and the highest-grossing film for Illumination.
So naturally, talk has turned towards what’s next in the Nintendo game-to-film adaptation stakes. The obvious question lingers over the company’s other major franchise – “The Legend of Zelda”.
The new game “Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” is now out in stores and looking likely to be not just a best seller but one of the best-reviewed games of all time.
Recently longtime Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma and game director Hidemaro Fujibayashi were asked by Polygon if the recent success of the Mario movie had them excited about the prospect of a Zelda adaptation. They responded:
Aonuma: “I have to say, I am interested. For sure. But it’s not just me being interested in something that makes things happen, unfortunately.”
Fujibayashi: “Maybe the voice of the fans is what’s important here.”
It essentially sounds like the pair would be happy to give it a shot, but the decision isn’t up to them – rather the corporations – and fans need to speak up if they want such a possibility.
Aonuma does look to have support from Nintendo legend and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, who teased the possibility of more of Nintendo’s franchises being adapted into movies and animations last month.
The ‘Zelda’ series has been around for 35 years and remains a best-seller. The previous game ‘Breath of the Wild’ is currently the fourth highest-selling game on the Nintendo Switch and has shifted close to 30 million copies over the years.
Source: Nintendo Life
