The director of Nintendo’s upcoming The Legend of Zelda film won’t reveal his favorite game in the franchise, but for a good reason.
In an interview with IGN, director Wes Ball was asked which Zelda game he loves most, and after a long pause, he simply laughed and said, “I’d better not say.”
This caused a bit of a panic among some Zelda fans online, who were worried in the moment that Ball doesn’t know any Zelda games and therefore isn’t right for the live action film, but he expanded a little in response to these comments.
Wes Ball, the director of the live action Zelda movie, on his favorite Zelda game: pic.twitter.com/g2bjToy0Ph
— IGN (@IGN) May 9, 2024
“Relax guys. I’m one of you,” Ball said in response to IGN’s X/Twitter post of the interview clip. “I’ve just learned from a wise man, when it comes to Zelda, best to say nothing as things just get misinterpreted.” He acknowledged the opposite actually happened in this case, however. “Judging on these comments, that’s probably gonna happen no matter what. Sheesh.”
Ball has proved his dedication to Zelda in the past as, 13 years before the film was announced, he actually tweeted about wanting a live action film to be made. “I could never even hope to have the chance to direct it,” he said at the time, ironically.
Nintendo development legend Shigeru Miyamoto has similarly discussed the Zelda film for 10 years, but despite all this planning and consideration, has admitted finding success will still be “an extremely high hurdle” to overcome.
Little is known about the project, which was announced as a collaboration between Nintendo and Sony in November 2023. Ball has said he wants it to be “live action Miyazaki”, referencing the beloved filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, the director of Studio Ghibli and creator of myriad anime classics like My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and more.
He still plans it to be a “serious” adaptation that feels real though, and has made clear he doesn’t intend to use much motion capture in the “grounded” film.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
