Games
Zelda director Wes Ball revealed 13 years ago how he imagined the perfect Zelda film
Zelda is becoming a movie and supposedly live action – but that could mean a lot of things.
Zelda fans all over the world are wondering what the announced movie will be, who will play what role and whether Link will speak. Director Wes Ball talked years ago about how he imagined a (then still hypothetical) Zelda film. And it could be different than expected.
The Zelda film might not be such a classic live-action film after all
That’s what it’s about: Zelda is being made into a film. Those responsible have been thinking about this for many years and now it has been made official. We don’t know too much about the film yet, but it’s supposed to be a live action film. That usually means we’re dealing with real actors, but the definition frays at the sides, if you will.
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Things get epic in the final trailer before release – Things get epic in the final trailer before release
Wes Ball is an absolute Zelda fan! The good news first: The director who made the Zelda film is a real fan of the series and hasn’t just been for a few years. No, on the contrary, he publicly thought about what a Zelda film could look like on Twitter thirteen years ago.
More like Avatar or Planet of the Apes? As Zeltik explains in his extensive YouTube video, back in 2010, Wes Ball thought that the next film to get a really extensive motion capture treatment on a grand scale would be a The Legend of Zelda film. He uses Avatar as a direct comparison.
Link to Twitter content
It’s all a question of definition: Back in 2014, the director of the Zelda movie believed that a fully animated film could work for adults as long as it still had a strong live action feel. Motion capture would still allow real people to be involved behind the scenes.
Link to Twitter content
In 2018, Wes Ball was already of the opinion that the world would not be far away from series or a film completely in one game engine was rendered:
Link to Twitter content
The director knows this: Wes Ball has now gained a lot of experience with motion capture processes and films that use the technology. For example, he not only shot the latest Planet of the Apes film, which relies heavily on it, but also many smaller, experimental projects such as Ruin or Mouse Guard.
Here we come full circle: Wes Ball might be just the man for the job. Not only is he now fulfilling a dream, but he may also be using tons of technology that he has been working with for decades.
The question of price remains, of course: Are we really going to see a fully animated film? Then it would be quite questionable that the Zelda film adaptation was announced as a live action film. After all, the vast majority of people understand it as something completely different.
But it can also be a mix and that currently sounds the most likely. It seems very conceivable that in the upcoming Zelda film, for example, the Rito, Zora and Gorons will be brought to life with the help of motion capture and animations, while many real actors play alongside them as Hylians.
What would you say about a Zelda film à la Avatar? Or can you even imagine a 100% animated flick? What do you ideally want?
