Sony's Zelda Movie Starts Shooting in New Zealand

Will be there until April 2026

by · Push Square

Sony and Nintendo have started filming their co-financed film adaptation of The Legend of Zelda in New Zealand, it has been revealed.

On the Film and Television Industry Alliance website, the project's status has been updated to "in production", where previously it stated "pre-production". The starting shoot date of 4th November 2025 is listed, with filming projected to conclude on 7th April 2026. This covers any recordings taken in Wellington, New Zealand.

Here's the movie description on the page:

A live-action adaptation of the video game franchise. ‘The Legend of Zelda’ follows Link, a young warrior destined to protect the magical kingdom of Hyrule from the forces of darkness. The land is under threat from Ganon, a ruthless warlord who seeks the Triforce—an ancient relic said to grant limitless power. To stop him, Link must embark on a perilous journey, battling monstrous creatures, exploring treacherous dungeons, and solving intricate puzzles to uncover sacred artifacts that can aid him in his quest.

Without an official trailer, details surrounding the film are still light. What we do know is it's set to hit movie theatres on 7th May 2027, and Link will be played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth while Bo Bragason has the role of Zelda. In terms of Sony's role in things, it's distributing the movie and co-financing it.

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[source productionlist.com, via nintendolife.com]

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About Liam Croft

Liam grew up with a PlayStation controller in his hands and a love for Metal Gear Solid. Nowadays, he's found playing the latest and greatest PS5 games as well as supporting Derby County. That last detail is his downfall.

Comments 20

I will be genuinely shocked if this turns out to be anything other than mid at best.

Only the best films are filmed in New Zealand.

I just got home from watching Predator: Badlands and the movie has plenty of beautiful landscape which was shoot in New Zealand. I personally reccomended the movie. This is the 3rd homerun from Dan Trachtenberg after Prey and Killer of Killers.

I'm also quite curious for this Zelda movie. I'm not a fan of the series but i enjoyed and finished Ocarina of Time and A Link Between Worlds.

Sony's Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda movie.

Just like Sony's Disney's Marvel's Spider-Man films and games.

This could be okay if they don't load this up with references and make it more of a classic adventure film. This can't have the same children's film vibe as something like The Mario Movie.

I used to be a huge Zelda fan before the two Switch games. I have a hard time seeing this being any good, but I'm mildly interested depending on what kind of direction it takes.

I'm definitely looking forward to watching it in the theater, hopefully the shooting goes well.

@Oram77 Once Were Warriors (1994) is a perfect example of this.

I never judge a film until I've seen it. You probably won't be surprised to know that many online like to yack with negativity about something before it's even been seen. That always baffled me.

With that said, Wes Ball did the Maze Runner films! Which were generic YA offerings post Hunger Games, and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which was actually ok.

Jury's out! ✌️🎮

@GirlVersusGame Dark film. So good. I like What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, also

@Vermines I'm watching it again right now while I explore in Satisfactory. At first I was going to fire up the soundtrack (it's absolutely brilliant) but instead I opted to just watch it again. It's definitely dark and depressing but it's a really rare look into a culture I'd otherwise know nothing about. The sequel didn't go down as well with some people but like you I enjoyed it. After that movie Temuera couldn't go to any bars without someone coming up to him and challenging him to a fight. They all wanted to take on Jake the Muss. A lot of people are going to hear him voice Boba Fett or see him portraying the character and never know about that movie, I can't unsee him as Jake. I think Once was his first proper movie, before that he did a handful of TV movies and then his career took off.

@GirlVersusGame Absolutely. Dark as it is, it is fantastic.

The guy is imposing, but charismatic. Great actor.

Barb Wire, though! Shocking.

@Vermines So people cannot use critical thinking when formulating their opinions on an upcoming project that has potentially numerous issues going against it?

@Brundleflies21 Saying something would be 'Mid' at best! Is neither critical or insightful. Its dumb.

I'm talking about the negative corner of things! Where it's not critical to guess, or assume. You can be critical with regards a director, or actors credentials. You can fracking talk about hope and potential outcomes of a film or game without being negative, or off topic. ✌️

@Vermines There's the fact that, as you alluded to, the person directing the movie has not exactly a proven track record and is being given the task of translating arguably the most beloved series in gaming.There's the reality that Zelda as an IP is not a strong narrative piece of art. It's bare bones in terms of complex themes, but that's not where it's genius lies. The beauty of the game is the gameplay tools you are given to complete it and most of all Link is you. That's why I've always thought of it as a masterstroke in terms of his name. Link is your link into the world. His mute character is there for you to insert yourself into the role of hero. Most protagonists, say Joel, Ellie or Kratos are complex thematically speaking because they are given characteristics by the developers which are external to your interaction with the game. So basically they're going to have to create a character from scratch, more so because this is a live action movie with real life actors and not an animation. Zelda herself, not to mention Ganon, have to be given concrete themes and agency too..There's the worry that the game has nearly always been text based so the writers, whom are having to satisfy millions of fans, are going to have to come up with something that is loyal to the source material and yet has legs to exist as a non interactive piece of art. Add in the fact that Sony and Nintendo are very keen on money so the likelihood of this being an esoteric art house film are unfortunately pretty low, which leads one to worryingly assume that in an attempt to please many it'll be played safe ergo inoffensive semi bland and what I would describe as mid.
I'd like it to be an interesting film but unlike Mario's adventures Zelda is a completely different world to translate into a cohesive 2hr experience.

@Brundleflies21 Fair one 👍

Different mediums. They will have to work differently. The film will have a ton of lore to cram in a films length that can only hope to spring a franchise! but, narratively that is a task and the audience has to accept certain changes.

@PuppetMaster

"I'm not a fan of the series but i enjoyed and finished Ocarina of Time and A Link Between Worlds."

...under duress, we can assume? 😆✌️

@PuppetMaster Did you also try Majora's Mask on 3DS? I never bothered to do the remake of Ocarina as I'd already burned out on that game, but MM was great on the 3DS and I played it after ALBW.

This should've been animated,like a ghibi anime preferably.

@The_Nintendo_Pedant Yeah Nintendo put a gun in my head to finished both games.

@AtlasLivesAgain Nope. I would try it but somehow Majora's Mask 3DS copy is quite expensive in here.

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