Nintendo has offered fans their first glimpse of The Legend of Zelda’s leap into live action. Images released Monday on the Nintendo Today app showcase young actors Bo Bragason and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as the magical Princess Zelda and the green-clad swordsman Link, respectively, in Sony and Nintendo’s upcoming big-screen adaptation. The stills show the pair standing in a sun-drenched meadow, Zelda gripping her signature bow and arrow while both wear faithful recreations of the characters’ classic Hylian costumes — complete with pointed ears.
Wes Ball, the filmmaker behind Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and The Maze Runner trilogy, directs the long-awaited adaptation, which is set to hit theaters on May 7, 2027.
Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who is producing the film, revealed the casting earlier this year, writing, “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. I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen.”
British actress Bragason is best known for her roles in BBC One’s Three Girls and The Jetty, as well as Disney+’s Renegade Nell. She also starred in Euros Lyn’s vampire comedy The Radleys. Ainsworth, also English, voiced the title role in Robert Zemeckis’ Pinocchio and played Miles in Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor. He currently stars in the Canadian comedy Son of a Critch and appeared in The Sandman on Netflix.
For longtime fans, the first-look images should offer some reassurance that Nintendo and Sony’s adaptation is embracing the fantasy-adventure tone that made the game series one of the best-selling in history. If Zelda’s big-screen debut matches the high bar set by 2023’s billion-dollar Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo’s nascent cinematic universe could be poised for a new era of Hyrulean glory.