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A recent rumour claimed that Illumination, Universal, and Nintendo were close to a Legend of Zelda film deal, but the Mario Movie producer has put that to bed.
It is very safe to say that the Super Mario Bros. Movie has made a whole lot of money (it’s one of the best performing animated films of all time). So unsurprisingly, everyone’s wondering what Nintendo IP could be next? A recent report claimed that it was in fact going to be none other than Zelda, with the rumour suggesting that Nintendo, Universal, and Illumination were very close to forming a deal. Except that doesn’t seem to be the case, as according to an interview with The Wrap, Super Mario Bros. Movie producer Chris Meledandri says he doesn’t even know where the rumour came from.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Meledandri said of the rumour. “I mean I can understand how people would surmise all sorts of things because obviously, we’ve had a great experience working together. My relationship with Nintendo now includes being on their board of directors, so I understand how people can surmise these things. But in terms of the specifics, that was just something that I’ve been hearing lots of reports. This is just about what’s next between Nintendo and Illumination.”
This quote from Meledandri obviously does show that the producer and Nintendo are quite closely linked now, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Nintendo does plan to work with Illumination again. After all, a Mario sequel does seem to be technically in the works, at least according to his voice actor Chris Pratt anyway.
A Zelda movie would likely take a lot of time to form a deal around though, as Nintendo is famously protective of its IP – plus, Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma himself said nothing is in the works right now.
Personally, I really don’t want Illumination to handle a Zelda film. I’m not necessarily on team Studio Ghibli either, let’s give some of the younger animation studios in Japan a chance. I just really don’t want Link to be voiced by someone like Tom Holland and say “hyah,” in a way-too-thick movie trailer voice.