Step Into Hyrule: First Images From Nintendo and Sony’s Live-Action The Legend of Zelda
Hyrule calls—Nintendo just dropped the first images from the live-action The Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Today app, offering an early glimpse at the Sony and Nintendo collaboration.
Well, Hyrule is officially taking its time. Nintendo and Sony just dropped three first-look images from their live-action Legend of Zelda movie, which is the latest breadcrumb in a rollout that keeps stretching further into the future. No shocker: this thing has a lot to live up to.
What just happened
Variety says the new images went live through the Nintendo Today app, which, yes, is a Sony-and-Nintendo joint effort. If that pairing makes you raise an eyebrow for a Nintendo property, you are not alone.
Release date shuffle
Director Wes Ball (Maze Runner, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) is steering this one. Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo producer/game director and co-creator of The Legend of Zelda, announced on social media that the movie has been pushed to May 7, 2027. Long wait, but if they stick the landing, no one will complain.
Who is playing Link and Zelda
A few months after that delay, Miyamoto hopped back on social media to confirm the two leads and share screen test shots: Bo Bragason as Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link.
Bragason is an English actress you might know from BBC One dramas Three Girls and The Jetty, Disney+ rip-roaring period caper Renegade Nell, and last year’s vampire comedy The Radleys from director Euros Lyn.
Ainsworth, also English, voiced Pinocchio in Robert Zemeckis' live-action Disney remake. He was the haunted kid Miles in Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor, stars in Canadian comedy Son of a Critch, and popped up in an episode of Netflix’s The Sandman.
The vibe they are chasing
Ball has been clear about what he wants this to feel like: not Lord of the Rings, but a grounded fantasy with some wonder in its step. He name-checks Hayao Miyazaki as the north star here — the Studio Ghibli co-founder behind Spirited Away, The Boy and the Heron, and Princess Mononoke, often dubbed the 'Godfather of Anime'. That is a big promise, and honestly, exactly the right target for Zelda.
'This awesome fantasy-adventure movie that isn’t like Lord of the Rings, it’s its own thing. I’ve always said, I would love to see a live-action Miyazaki. That wonder and whimsy that he brings to things, I would love to see something like that.'
How we got here
- Nearly 40 years after the first game, Nintendo finally moves ahead with a live-action Zelda film.
- Wes Ball signs on to direct, fresh off Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
- Miyamoto announces a new release date: May 7, 2027.
- A few months later, Miyamoto reveals the leads with screen tests: Bo Bragason as Zelda, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link.
- Now: three first-look images surface in the Nintendo Today app, as reported by Variety. And yes, it is a Sony-and-Nintendo rollout.
Where this leaves us
We have a date, a director with a clear lane, two young leads, and some early looks that Nintendo and Sony are trickling out through their app. If Ball really pulls off 'live-action Miyazaki', Zelda fans might be eating well in 2027. Until then, it’s all about the breadcrumbs.