The world of video games is crossing over to the cinemas with live-action adaptations like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Gran Turismo debuting this year. Nintendo may be looking to take another of its popular IPs to the big screen soon.

According to a new rumor, Universal Pictures is already working on bringing The Legend of Zelda to theaters.

The information was shared by reliable Hollywood insider MyTimeToShineHello on X. The insider is very well known for their accurate leaks on comic book movies from Marvel and DC.

The collaboration between Universal and Nintendo isn't surprising given the box office success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The Chris Pratt-led animated adaptation is the second highest-grossing film of the year, earning over $1.36 billion from its theatrical run alone.

Universal developing a live action Legend of Zelda movie pic.twitter.com/BfSDzF4fiA

— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) September 10, 2023

Beyond the collaboration between Universal and Nintendo, MyTimeToShineHello didn't provide additional information on the project. This has led to speculation about the format of the upcoming movie. Some fans want to see the popular video game series turned into a live-action movie while others speculate that a more drawn-out TV series on streaming platforms. We also do not have an idea of which storyline the upcoming project will use.

The choice of going with a live-action adaptation is interesting and introduces a set of challenges when you think of the fantasy setting of The Legend of Zelda. Recreating the rich and vibrant world of Hyrule would have been easier if the movie was an animated adaptation. The decision to go with a live-action film means that Nintendo may be collaborating with a different studio, other than Illumination, to lead the project.

Easily the biggest challenge of a live-action adaptation of Zelda is casting the character of Link. The protagonist is one of the most iconic silent characters in gaming and fans are already asking whether Link will be speaking in the movie adaptation. Link has few lines of dialogue throughout the game series and it will be a key factor in the live-action adaptation.

The potential for a Zelda movie series is exciting considering the franchise's number of games. It will be challenging to translate the game into a successful adaptation but the prospect of watching Zelda on the big screen is thrilling for a lot of fans.

Given the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, we expect the partnership between Universal and Nintendo to bring us the same quality content worthy of the best-selling series.

There is no release date for The Legend of Zelda's live-action adaptation yet. We assume that the project will be a few years away at this point.