Nintendo and Sony Pictures are bringing Hyrule to theaters in a live-action feature directed by Wes Ball, with Bo Bragason as Princess Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link. The film finished principal photography in April 2026 after shooting across New Zealand and is now in post-production ahead of its worldwide theatrical release.
Release date and distribution
The theatrical release is locked for May 7, 2027 in the United States and worldwide. The date was originally set for March 26, 2027, then pushed back roughly six weeks for production reasons. Shigeru Miyamoto communicated the shift directly, framing the delay as extra time to polish the film.
Sony Pictures Releasing handles global theatrical distribution. Nintendo is co-financing the film with a stake above 50 percent, and the company has said it is heavily involved in production decisions. A later streaming home on Netflix has been reported for early 2029 through a separate Sony–Netflix output deal.
Cast
Nintendo confirmed the two leads in mid-July 2025. Bo Bragason plays Princess Zelda, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth plays Link. Both are English actors with notable prior work in film and television.
| Role | Actor | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Princess Zelda | Bo Bragason | Three Girls, Censor, Renegade Nell, The Jetty, The Radleys |
| Link | Benjamin Evan Ainsworth | The Haunting of Bly Manor, Pinocchio (2022), Flora & Ulysses |
Beyond the two leads, no additional cast has been officially confirmed. Footage that leaked from the New Zealand shoot in November 2025 prompted widespread speculation that Dichen Lachman, known for Severance, is playing Impa, though that casting has not been announced by Nintendo or Sony.
Before the leads were named, Patricia Summersett, the voice of Zelda in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, publicly expressed interest in reprising the role. Hunter Schafer, Emma Myers, Walker Scobell, and Machine Gun Kelly each voiced interest in joining the project during the long casting window.
Director, writers, and producers
Wes Ball directs. His prior credits include the Maze Runner trilogy and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Ball has talked about wanting the film to carry a grounded fantasy feel, referencing the hand-crafted sensibilities of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki as a tonal reference rather than a visual copy.
Derek Connolly wrote the original screenplay. In June 2025, T.S. Nowlin, who previously worked with Ball on the Maze Runner films, was brought on as screenwriter. Both retain writing credits on the current project listing.
Shigeru Miyamoto produces alongside Avi Arad of Arad Productions. Ball and Joe Hartwick Jr. also produce through their OddBall Entertainment banner. Columbia Pictures, Nintendo, Arad Productions, and OddBall Entertainment are the listed production companies.
Production timeline
The live-action Zelda adaptation has a long history. Imagi Animation Studios pitched a computer-animated version in 2007, which Nintendo declined, partly due to lingering wariness after the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film. Miyamoto and Arad then quietly developed the current project for roughly a decade before Nintendo's public announcement in November 2023.
| Milestone | When |
|---|---|
| Project officially announced by Nintendo | November 7, 2023 |
| Original release date revealed (Nintendo Today! app) | March 28, 2025 |
| T.S. Nowlin joins as screenwriter | June 2025 |
| Release shifted from March 26 to May 7, 2027 | June 9, 2025 |
| Lead cast announced (Bragason, Ainsworth) | July 16, 2025 |
| Principal photography begins in New Zealand | November 2025 |
| First official photos released | November 17, 2025 |
| Filming wraps | April 2026 |
| Worldwide theatrical release | May 7, 2027 |
Filming locations
Principal photography took place in New Zealand, with shooting centered around Wellington and later Otago, including Glenorchy, a location used extensively in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The choice places the production in well-established fantasy landscapes and continues a pattern of large genre films using the region's terrain for epic scale. Additional filming locations associated with the production include Devon, England.
Plot and tone
Neither Nintendo nor Sony has published a formal plot synopsis. A production listing made public around the start of filming described Link as a young warrior defending Hyrule from Ganon, a warlord seeking the Triforce, with the story built around dungeons, puzzles, and sacred artifacts. That framing aligns with the core structure of the mainline games without committing to a specific title as source material.
Ball has publicly said he wants the film to feel tangible and serious rather than winking or overly stylized. The Ghibli and Miyazaki references he has cited point toward a naturalistic fantasy approach, closer to practical environments and creature work than full motion capture.
Trailer and marketing
No trailer has been released. Nintendo published three official stills on November 17, 2025, showing Bragason as Zelda and Ainsworth as Link in a field, marking the first sanctioned look at the film. Expect marketing to ramp up closer to the 2027 window, following the pattern Sony and Nintendo have used for prior tentpole releases.
Score
John Paesano is attached to compose the score, based on project listings updated in early 2026. Paesano previously scored the Maze Runner films with Ball and has worked on Marvel's Daredevil and the Spider-Man: Miles Morales games. Koji Kondo's original Zelda themes are credited as source musical material.
What exists today is a fully cast, fully shot film deep in post-production with a firm May 7, 2027 theatrical date. The remaining blanks, such as supporting cast, specific game inspirations, and the first trailer, will likely fill in across late 2026 and early 2027 as Sony's marketing campaign begins in earnest.