After a long search, Sony and Nintendo‘s live-action Legend of Zelda movie has found its leads in a pair of up-and-comers: Bo Bragason will be playing Zelda, with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto announced early this morning on Nintendo’s official X page.
“This is Miyamoto. I am pleased to announce that for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason-san, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san,” he wrote, sharing images of the pair in costume. “I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen.”
Sony first announced it would distribute and team with Nintendo to co-finance a Zelda movie in the fall of 2023, with the Planet of the Apes franchise’s Wes Ball coming aboard to direct, and Miyamoto and Avi Arad set to produce. T.S. Nowlin penned the most recent draft of the script. Speculation on casting for the project has been rampant, with many fans taking to social media to name Euphoria‘s Hunter Schafer as their pick for the part of Zelda. Sources said that Mason Thames and Brady Hepner were two other finalists for the role of Link. The film is slated for release in theaters on May 7, 2027.
The Legend of Zelda game franchise, created by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, first debuted under Nintendo in 1986. The game follows the elf-like warrior Link and Princess Zelda as they fight to save the magical land of Hyrule from Ganon, an evil warlord-turned-demon king. Over the decades, the franchise has sustained as one of Nintendo’s most iconic, selling over 150 million units with multiple installments across various gaming consoles, one of the most famous behind 1998’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Zelda has been one of the most anticipated upcoming video game adaptations for some time, particularly after the blockbuster success of efforts like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, The Last of Us on HBO, and A Minecraft Movie.
.A relative unknown in the States, Bragason has previously been seen in Prano Bailey-Bond’s Sundance horror movie Censor and the film The Radleys from Euros Lyn, as well as series like Renegade Nell. Upcoming, she’ll be seen in Prime Video’s YA drama series Sterling Point from My Old Ass breakout Megan Park.
For Ainsworth, past credits include Pinocchio, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Everything’s Going to Be Great, to name a few.
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