Illumination CEO denies report of Zelda movie

Head exec says he doesn’t know where the Zelda movie rumors came from.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a smash hit, leading it to become the second highest-grossing animated movie ever. After such success, making a The Legend of Zelda movie would seem like a logical next step.

A recent report claimed that Illumination, the studio behind the Mario movie, is already working with Nintendo to make an adaptation of the Zelda series. The rumor spread like Internet wildfire, but there’s one problem with this story. TheWrap talked with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri to ask about a Zelda movie, and it looks like Link’s story isn’t on the table for the studio. Meledandri even adds that he has no idea where these rumors are coming from. Outside of blind guesses from fans, that is.

“I mean I can understand how people would surmise all sorts of things because obviously, we’ve had a great experience working together,” said Meledandri. “My relationship with Nintendo now includes being on their board of directors, so I understand how people can surmise these things. But in terms of the specifics, that was just something that I’ve been hearing lots of reports. This is just about what’s next between Nintendo and Illumination.”

Rumors every week

Benjamin Renner, a director at Illumination currently working on Migration, also chimed in about the issue. He says that he sees “one report every week” of what their team is working on next, and this one just so happened to be Zelda.

Illumination, the studio behind other hits such as Sing and Despicable Me, has already fast-tracked a Mario sequel. That could prove to be a reason why a Zelda movie might not see the light of day just yet.

Still, the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie has earned Meledandri a seat on Nintendo’s board of directors. We’ll have to wait and see if Illumination will take on other Nintendo properties in the future.

Tiago Manuel

Tiago is a freelancer who used to write about video games, cults, and video game cults. He now writes for Destructoid in an attempt to find himself on the winning side when the robot uprising comes.

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