The Legend of Zelda Release Delayed
Link is going to wait a bit longer before he finds the Triforce. After the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo didn’t take long to announce their next cinematic collaboration, this time with Sony, a live-action adaptation of the seminal fantasy RPG The Legend of Zelda. A couple of months ago, Nintendo used its new Nintendo Today! app to announce that The Legend of Zelda, which is being directed by Wes Ball, would arrive in theaters on March 26, 2027. Today, however, the date was pushed back, as Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of The Legend of Zelda, announced via the Nintendo X account that the new release date for the film will be May 7, 2027, explaining that the gap would be used to “make the film as good as it can be.”
This is Miyamoto. For production reasons, we are changing the release date of the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda to May 7, 2027. It will be some weeks later than the release timing we originally announced, and we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it…
— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) June 9, 2025
First of all, I don’t think the delayed release is a bad thing or indicative of problems with the film’s development. The Legend of Zelda hasn’t even been cast yet, let alone begun filming. (I’m tempted to make some joke about the recent casting rumor, but I’m better than that; okay, I’m not, but nothing springs to mind.) The only thing they could need to improve right now would be the script, but I doubt they’ll do much in less than two months. Moreover, what Miyamoto actually said was, “we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it can be.” That doesn’t mean making the movie better was the reason for the delay, and frankly, between the small size of the delay and Miyamoto’s carefully crafted post about it, I don’t believe it is. I tend to think it’s probably something mundane, like a scheduling conflict or the perception that The Legend of Zelda will do better at the box office in May instead of March – nothing big, in other words, and certainly nothing for fans to be worried about; just business.
But the dates are interesting, and seeing The Legend of Zelda suddenly moved up to May got my Spider-Sense tingling. Essentially, The Legend of Zelda went from being what was probably the big tent pole release for the spring of 2027 to the beginning of the summer movie season – technically, the second weekend. That’s a big jump, and a risky one; not to take away from the film and its success, but part of why The Super Mario Bros. Movie made so much money was because it had little to no competition. Of the rest of the top five that weekend, John Wick: Chapter 4 was in its third week in theaters, Scream VI was in its fifth, and I don’t think anyone believed Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (which was actually pretty good) or Air (which was excellent) were going to put much of a dent in something with the Mario brand. Putting The Legend of Zelda in March was a safe bet.
So, why did they move The Legend of Zelda to the riskier summer spot? I think the answer is another delayed movie, one that was to come out the week before and kick off the 2027 summer movie season – Avengers: Secret Wars. It’s easy to see why Nintendo and Sony wanted to avoid going head-to-head with Secret Wars; despite the downward spiral Marvel is in right now, its predecessor, Avengers: Doomsday, features a cast of thousands that, while light on heavy hitters right now, will almost surely include the likes of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool, and it already has the return of Robert Downey Jr. (albeit as Doctor Doom, but if you think he won’t also be playing Iron Man, I’d advise you against betting on horses) and fan-favorite directors the Russo Brothers. Secret Wars is likely to have an even bigger roster than Doomsday; there are rumors that everyone from Toby Maguire’s Spider-Man to Chris Evans’ Captain America to Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider is showing up for some multiverse action. That’s a stacked enough deck to make any movie keep its distance, but now, Secret Wars is coming out at Christmastime, and I’ll bet the studios see an opening at the beginning of summer. Add to that the movies slated for release in March 2027: a DC Comics movie, a Disney movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and the next Godzilla and King Kong monster mash. That’s a crowded month, with movies that could very well chip away at Zelda’s box office. But move it back a month and a half, and suddenly, The Legend of Zelda is the big dog to beat in May 2027, with its only competition so far being Star Wars: Starfighter at the end of the month. This is a big power move for the Nintendo franchise, and it may pay off in clout as much as it does in cash.
Let us know what you think of The Legend of Zelda being delayed in the comments!
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