Will it Ever Be Worthwhile to Adapt The Legend of Zelda for Film or Television?
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Have you spent the past week playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom? Me too. As a huge fan of The Breath of the Wild (and someone that has fully completed the game down to those nine hundred blasted Korok seeds), it brings me so much joy that there is such a faithful sequel that feels like a complete extension of the previous release. I’m not one of those players that has beaten the game yet. Heavens, no. However, I am aware of the exploits of the speed-running community and am amazed by how quickly people can figure out how to bullet through an intentionally lengthy video game.
I’m not here to talk about video games, though. I have previously discussed some possibly worthwhile adaptations that can exist (so far, two of the video games I pitched have been adapted into television series, albeit not even remotely how I imagined them). One of those ideas was The Legend of Zelda, and this article was released before we had any worthwhile adaptations of video games. Now, we have a couple: The Last of Us, League of Legends, and Castlevania (which existed before my article, but I feel the need to include it anyway). I revisit this article today because we are in a new landscape now. There are films and television series based on video games that actually work. With these newly found successes in mind, I beg the question: will it ever be worthwhile to adapt The Legend of Zelda for film or television? Not even any of the specific games: just the franchise in general. Should we even bother?
On paper, it makes perfect sense to make a film or series about The Legend of Zelda. Why not? It’s arguably the greatest video game franchise of all time. It is incredibly cinematic to boot; I’ll never forget seeing Ganondorf the first time in Twilight Princess: him sitting on horseback, their silhouette being engulfed by the inferno behind them. If you excuse the pixelated nature of this snapshot of this cinematic cut scene, I must share it with you:
There are many — many — instances where any Zelda game is cinematic, but I had to share this one because it left a huge imprint on me as a teenager when I first played it (it was the first Zelda game I completed from start to finish, and I have played most of the main titles since). The franchise is full of great stories but they all circle around one main narrative (for the most part, unless you exclude outliers like Majora’s Mask): Link — a Hylian hero that is tasked with helping Princess Zelda save the kingdom of Hyrule from Ganon (or Ganondorf, or sometimes he appears as both iterations of himself). They each possess different sides of the Triforce; Link holds the Triforce of Courage, Zelda carries the Triforce of Wisdom, and Ganondorf/Ganon possesses the Triforce of Power (usually to help him become insurmountable in his quest for complete domination). They don’t always hold these specific sides, but this is what I’m most familiar with.
As Link gets stronger — via gaining more hearts, better weapons, and powers — he furthers his quest towards saving Hyrule. At the same time, he partakes in as many side quests as the player of any of these games wishes. These are often pieces of the overall puzzle: containers of their own subplots that create a bigger picture of Hyrule (or any other region in the games) and its inhabitants during times of turmoil. You become familiar with all walks of life — from gorons to zoras. So it may seem that the Zelda series is enriched with stories to tell in long form or in short. It must make the perfect source material to adapt into a film or series.
On the contrary: I feel like either medium may not really do Zelda justice. What makes the franchise as special as it is is how it connects with its players. It’s all well and good to depict Link and his adventures, but beating difficult games through trial and error, perseverance, hours of guessing before you crack a puzzle, and other triumphs is where the games are satisfying. You get to bond with all of the characters associated with side quests, but will they get their fair share of screen time in a television series, let alone a stand alone film? Most likely not. Of course, side quests aren’t as important as the main story, but consider most Zelda games. If you speed through these games (normally, not like a speed-runner, as most of us on Earth can’t pull this style of play off), the Zelda games are usually around forty hours of gameplay on average. I would personally argue that the majority of these stories are necessary, but let’s pretend that a percentage of that time is devoted towards having to restart certain portions after players get game overs, or the occasional wandering around (either by getting lost, or through the quest of discovery). Let’s cut it down to thirty hours. That’s still thirty hours. If you cut certain elements of the story out to shorten it even more, I again need to ask: why bother adapting Zelda at all?
Zelda is long form entertainment, but it is far more than just that, and therein lies the issue when the concern of adaptations is raised. Video games allow players to do whatever they want (within the realms of the game’s possibilities, of course). Should someone want to beat the game as quickly as possible, they can. If a player wants to cut down trees for twelve thousand hours, the game grants them that insane opportunity. I’m not sure why anyone would want to do this, but they absolutely have the right and capability to. Video games typically have two screenwriting processes. There’s firstly the story portion, which makes sense: an expert is hired to craft the main narrative of a video game and what the player is guaranteed to experience, from start to finish. Then there are the stories that players can create on their own, with video game developers having to consider how many opportunities they can grant them. When you play a Zelda game, you almost always play as Link and are tasked with saving the Kingdom of Hyrule. However, you can set your own tone and pace. Do you want Link to become a master of using his shield as a sled as he coasts through all of the hills in the game? Why the hell not. Do you want to see how far Link can fling himself off of a cliff before he finally pulls out his paraglider feet above the ground? It’s up to you. Do you want Link to never use any weapons that aren’t farming tools to save the day? That’s on you, but you absolutely can do this. Is Link suddenly a pacifist who can’t hunt for any animals expect for frogs which he will specifically kill at first glance? Again, you can choose whatever story you wish to tell.
All video games have this level of personal control, but it feels especially prevalent in games like those in the Zelda franchise. Between the main story, the optional sidequests, and the open world gameplay, the Zelda franchise — for the most part — is a series of endless opportunities for players to get completely immersed. The protagonist’s name wasn’t even Link at first: Link was a placeholder option for the hero in the original Legend of Zelda. In reality, you could name the hero anything you wanted; usually, you’d name them after yourself so you could place yourself in the shoes of a legend. The Breath of the Wild forces you to stay with the name Link, which I believe is the first time this happens in any of the games (I could be wrong, though), and Tears of the Kingdom keeps this element alive. In reality, the franchise is named after Princess Zelda, and you yourself were originally meant to serve as the protagonist. You can’t get more immersive than that.
On the topic of the original story, one aspect of the franchise I adore is how the majority of the games feel like retellings of the exact same legend but through different details and tones: as if you are experiencing the same mythology but via a different culture’s own variations. There are exceptions, like how Majora’s Mask and Tears of the Kingdom function more as sequels and thus don’t feel like any other entry in the franchise. That being said, an adaptation of the franchise would likely feel like the exact same thing: a retelling of the same story. Nothing wrong with that. In the games, you get different fight styles, gimmicks, and other details that make each title stand out on their own. What would an adaptation grant? Should an adaptation stand alone on its own? If not, which game would it most align with, and why? There are many things to consider, especially since there isn’t as much potential for having a filmic or televised franchise as you may think: I don’t think having games with similar stories, like Ocarina of Time, The Breath of the Wild, and Skyward Sword, turned into their own films: it would feel much more repetitive than the games themselves feel.
Should Zelda get adapted, it would need to have one honest run at this attempt. What would that look like, though? I’m not sure. A dedicated filmmaker or showrunner would be needed, but that’s obvious. What I worry about is the diluting of the franchise into a run-of-the-mill fantasy release. This happens time and time again with adaptations that miss the point as to why these genre works succeed so well, thus making them passable genre stereotypes that no one needs. With the title of a famous property, these tests of mediocrity still thrive enough. I don’t want that in general, but especially not for the Zelda series. I had my own hypothesis of what a good Zelda film would look like, but that was clearly in jest and not meant to be taken seriously; it involved Guillermo del Toro as director, and the following cast: Timothée Chalamet as Link (an idea that seemed a bit more appropriate a few years ago), Saoirse Ronan as Princess Zelda, Michael Fassbender as Ganondorf, and Charlize Theron as Impa. In hindsight, I’d scrap this entirely. It isn’t the worst idea ever, but I don’t think even this would be good enough.
The bar is just too high. The Last of Us is only around ten years old as a property, and, in my opinion, the series succeeds. This isn’t the consensus of all, as quite a few players were missing their own personal inflictions in the series adapted by someone else (what are the odds?), and that’s kind of the thing: the charm of video games is that we make them our own story in as many ways as we’re allowed to, depending on the game. The Last of Us isn’t that old. The Legend of Zelda is nearly forty years old. That’s four decades of people becoming attached to the lore of the Nintendo franchise. Chances are you’re going to press many buttons. Still, people will go see the film or series: this isn’t a question of whether or not a Zelda adaptation will be successful financially. Will the project be any good? There’s one thing about my own personal pitch that I still feel comfortable with: any adaptation should be completely original and not based on any specific game. Have the iconic characters and specificities, and then spin your own version of the mythology.
Even still, is it worthwhile to attempt this? I’m personally content enough with the games. I’ve learned that some properties exist at their very best in their intended mediums. My all time favourite novel, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, is far too postmodern to really make sense as a film, hence why no one remembers or even talks about George Roy Hill’s adaptation (and he’s more than a competent filmmaker to boot). Zelda is perfect as it is in any of its main games. Will it work outside of the video game medium? I mean, it’s entirely possible. I just don’t know if it’s worthwhile to even try.
It’s not like a bad television series or film will besmirch the reputation of the franchise, so it isn’t really a risk in any way. It may just be a waste of time: a temporary financial success that will be forgotten as the video game series continues. However, through all of my cynicism, there’s something I need to touch upon: the possibility that there actually can be a good adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. It’s entirely possible. I just don’t know how necessary or worthwhile it would be. I would love to be shut up by a great adaptation. I don’t think we absolutely must adapt The Legend of Zelda when what we have is brilliant on its own. What will we really be getting from a The Legend of Zelda film outside of simply having a The Legend of Zelda film? Nonetheless, should an adaptation ever exist, I will be interested in seeing how it turns out. I just don’t think it’s essential.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.