Zelda Game of Thrones-style? Netflix is in early development on a Live-Action Zelda TV show that will be like “A family-friendly Game of Thrones”!
Check out this hype-building trailer of the next Zelda game for Wii U (still untitled).
This news was broke by The Wall Street Journal, which didn’t tell us how they got the information, but it obviously comes from some inside source close to the negotiations.
Netflix is in serious and direct talks with Nintendo about their ideas for a live-action Zelda series, and the show is in the early stages of development… Although there is no official announcement and neither Netflix or Nintendo will comment on “rumors & speculation”.
If this is true, this could be the big breakthrough that gamers have been waiting for. A TV show of Breaking Bad-quality based on an extremely popular videogame franchise.
It’s a wonder that no one has tapped any other big videogames to make into TV shows, from Resident Evil to Metal Gear to Silent Hill to Halo (which has two shows in development, but whether any of them will be AAA blockbusters of Walking Dead stature remains to be seen)…
Because the gaming world is absolutely RIFE with material that would translate into a phenomenal TV show experience. But it has yet to happen…
For it’s part, Zelda was once turned into an animated TV show, which got one season way back in 1989. There were also Zelda segments during the animated carton, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, back in the late 80s & early 90s. Link was also featured in the early 90s animated kids show, “Captain N and the Game Master”. And let’s not talk about the horrendous CD-i Zelda games with their eye-piercing animation…
While this news of a live-action Zelda TV show is extremely exciting, fans are also extremely anxious because this could easily be a disaster if it isn’t done right and if it doesn’t stay true to the source material.
As an example, you can check out this video of gameplay from the upcoming Zelda game that had fans screaming in enthusiasm.
Thankfully, Netflix has powered some award-winning shows with superior pedigree and a proven track-record of success; giving us shows like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Hemlock Grove & Lillyhammer, with tons of additional big-name shows in the works, including deals with Marvel to make TV shows based off of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist & Luke Cage, all superheroes that will culimate in a mini-series called “The Defenders”. Awesome stuff.
So tapping into the HUGE gamer fanbase with a TV show based on The Legend of Zelda seems like a fantastic idea. And the ability to tap into both kids & adults as well as directly compete with HBO’s Game of Thrones by making a Game of Thrones-style Zelda TV show sounds like a strategy wild-enough to actually work!
I am mighty, mighty excited about this new project.
I hope that Nintendo has the brains to say yes to this.
I believe it could really represent a paradigm shift in game-to-TV translations and could spur the development and eventual success of many more game-based TV shows, much like the movies X-Men & Spider-Men did for Marvel & comicbook-based movies.
Perhaps it will be like this surprisingly good looking April Fools joke Zelda movie trailer:
How excited are you about the Netflix-developed Live-Action Zelda TV Show?!