Nintendo has delayed the launch of its upcoming live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, the company has just confirmed.
A statement by Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, posted to social media this afternoon, states that “extra time” will now be taken to improve the film’s quality.
The movie had been set to arrive on March 26, 2027, and will now arrive May 7, 2027 — the date previously held by the now-delayed Avengers: Secret Wars.
“This is Miyamoto,” the statement reads. “For production reasons, we are changing the release date of the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda to May 7, 2027.
“It will be some weeks later than the release timing we originally announced, and we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it can be. Thank you for your patience.”
Nintendo did not elaborate further on its decision to move the Zelda film’s launch date, but the company’s choice of Avengers: Secret Wars’ previous slot ensures Nintendo takes advantage of Marvel’s previous key window while steering clear of several other big hitters due to arrive around its now-vacated March date.
Zelda’s previous release date had been just one week after the scheduled release of Sonic The Hedgehog 4, on March 19, 2027, and would have seen it square up directly with Godzilla x Kong: Supernova. Avengers: Secret Wars is now set for December 17, 2027, meanwhile.
With less than two years to go until Nintendo’s Zelda movie materialises, we still know remarkably little about the project. So far, there has been no word on who might star in the film, and no details of its plot.
Officially announced in November 2023, the film is being produced by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, former CEO of Marvel Studios. Sony Pictures Entertainment will handle distribution in addition to co-financing the movie with Nintendo. Jurassic World’s Derek Connolly is writing the screenplay, while Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Wes Ball will direct.
In May 2024, Ball said making an all mo-cap Zelda movie “probably isn’t his choice” after completing work on the CG-heavy KIngdom of the Planet of the Apes. Instead, Ball said, The Legend of Zelda should feel “grounded” and “real.”
“I want to fulfill people’s greatest desires,” Ball said in another interview about the project. “I know it’s important, this franchise, to people, and I want it to be a serious movie. A real movie that can give people an escape… [It has] to feel like something real. Something serious and cool but fun and whimsical.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
