From Mario and Metroid to StarFox and The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo has some of the most valuable IP in the world. Nonetheless, the video game titan has largely avoided live-action or any agreements with Hollywood ever since the Super Mario Bros. movie.
Back in 2015, Nintendo was mulling over a live-action Netflix series based on The Legend of Zelda, and they’re just now beginning to return to Hollywood with an animated Mario Bros movie on the way from Illumination Entertainment. This explains why Nintendo ultimately decided to end the series.
The Legend of Zelda Netflix Series
According to Eurogamer, comedian Adam Conover was developing a Claymation StarFox adaptation for The Serf Times podcast before Nintendo halted all of its adaptations after the Wall Street Journal leaked information about the Zelda series.
“Then, a month later, suddenly there were reports Netflix wasn’t going to do its Legend of Zelda anymore,” said Conover. “I was like ‘what happened?’ And then I heard from my boss we weren’t doing our Star Fox anymore. I was like ‘what happened?’. He was like, ‘someone at Netflix leaked the Legend of Zelda thing, they weren’t supposed to talk about it, Nintendo freaked out… and they pulled the plug on everything, the entire program to adapt these things.”
It’s clear that the cringeworthy CD-i Zelda games from the 1990s are what made Nintendo so protective of its IPs. Zelda’s success can’t be attributed to any one company, so Nintendo doesn’t need a “boost” from anyone else.
The full cast of @Netflix‘s live-action #Zelda series just dropped, revealing an all-star cast starring @TomHolland1996, @EmmaWatson, and @idriselba! 😱
Full posters in thread 👇
(JK. Made w/ #midjourney, inpainting w/ #dalle, facial correction w/ Tencent ARC, and Photoshop) pic.twitter.com/YnxV7UEJgH
— Dan Leveille (@danlev) October 5, 2022
Nintendo has every right to be protective of its intellectual property, and while I’d love to see a live-action adaptation, they shouldn’t force it. If the animated Mariomovies do well, maybe Nintendo will be more open to other adaptations (I’ve long argued that Metroid would make a great live-action property). I’d love to see a studio take us on a trip to Hyrule.
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