Link and Zelda finally have real‑world counterparts. Nintendo confirmed Wednesday that 16‑year‑old Benjamin Evan Ainsworth—best known for Disney’s 2022 Pinocchio—and fellow Briton Bo Bragason of BBC drama Renegade Nell will front the long‑anticipated live‑action The Legend of Zelda, ending months of fervid speculation. The casting reveal landed first in the Nintendo News app and was echoed on X by series creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
By naming two relative newcomers, the studio rejects earlier fan theories that Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer would play the princess, and positions the duo at the heart of director Wes Ball’s fantasy epic for Nintendo and Sony Pictures. Miyamoto said he was “very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen,” signaling that production, slated to start early next year, is on schedule.
Ball, coming off Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, has repeatedly pitched the project as “a live‑action Miyazaki” that balances grounded adventure with Studio Ghibli‑style wonder. Screenwriter Derek Connolly is revising the script as pre‑visualization work ramps up ahead of a May 7 2027 worldwide release. More than half of the film’s budget will be financed directly by Nintendo, with Sony handling global distribution.
The financial calculus is clear: Nintendo hopes to replicate the box‑office magic of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed $1.36 billion worldwide and proved the commercial power of its game franchises beyond consoles. Analysts suggest that a successful Zelda film could bolster the company’s expanding entertainment strategy, which already includes theme‑park attractions, a Mario sequel and a proposed Donkey Kong spin‑off.
Reaction to the casting has been broadly positive, although debate on fan forums over Ainsworth’s youth and the absence of villain Ganondorf in early materials underscores the tightrope Ball must walk between nostalgia and accessibility. Zelda historians caution that tone will be decisive: audiences will expect cinematic scope without losing the quiet mystery that has defined the series for nearly 40 years.
