Following the massive financial success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, all eyes are on Wes Ball’s live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda as Nintendo’s next potential blockbuster. The film was originally slated to be released on March 26, 2027. It was then delayed to May 7 and, more recently, pushed up to April 30. Even with this earlier premiere, the film will miss out on a 2026 release, which would have coincided with The Legend of Zelda series’ 40th anniversary, but Nintendo had a different surprise to celebrate the milestone.
The latest Nintendo Direct finally confirmed the existence of the much-speculated remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, set to release for the Nintendo Switch 2 later this year, likely in October or December, to give the highly anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto VI a wide berth. This remake, combined with the film released less than half a year later, will be an exciting combo for fans of the The Legend of Zelda franchise, and the news points to the possible story direction of Ball’s adaptation.
Ocarina of Time Is the Fan-Favorite The Legend of Zelda Game
Promotional artwork for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time from Nintendo’s official websiteImage via Nintendo
Even before the remake was announced, many The Legend of Zelda fans speculated that Ocarina of Time would serve as inspiration for the upcoming film, because it is arguably the most popular and important game in the series’ long history. Upon its release in November 1998, Ocarina of Time received perfect scores from nearly every major review outlet, and it held the record for the best-selling The Legend of Zelda game until it was dethroned by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild nearly two decades later.
CBR Exclusive · Nintendo Quiz WHICH NINTENDO LEGEND ARE YOU? Press Start to Play From the dungeons of Hyrule to the cold reaches of space, Nintendo’s universe is bursting with legends, oddballs, and cosmic eating machines. Are you a brave-hearted adventurer? A relentlessly upbeat pink blob? A hypercharged electric mouse? Or the bounty hunter who needs no one? Twenty questions. One legendary result. Let’s find out who you really are.
Link
Toad
Samus
Kirby
Pikachu
01
It’s a free Saturday. What’s the move, hero? Your ideal morning is basically your origin story.
02
A big bad enemy is blocking the path. You: How you handle danger speaks louder than any character select screen.
03
How do you roll, style-wise? Your fit is your lore.
04
There’s a puzzle blocking your way. Your approach? Every dungeon has a puzzle. Every person has a method.
05
Most important question: what’s your meal of choice? Truly the most revealing question in this quiz.
06
You discover you have a secret power. What is it? The power you imagine says everything about you.
07
Dream HQ — what does yours look like? Where you recharge says a lot about who you are when no one’s watching.
08
What’s your actual biggest weakness? Even legends have a weak point. Courage is admitting it.
09
The group needs a leader. Do you step up? Leadership style reveals the true final boss of your personality.
10
Halfway! What truly gets you out of bed every morning? Core motivation. This is the real 1-UP.
11
You just totally wiped out. In front of everyone. The fall doesn’t matter. The bounce-back is everything.
12
There’s a mystery item chest! You hope it contains… The upgrade you want is the upgrade you already are.
13
It’s game night with the squad! What are you doing? Social energy = final form revealed.
14
How do people honestly describe you? Your reputation is just your vibe with a narrator.
15
Preferred method of getting around the world? Your travel vibe is basically your whole personality in motion.
16
What does being a hero actually mean to you? The real final dungeon is a philosophical one.
17
How do you want history to remember you? Every legend leaves a mark on the world map.
18
Someone has been seriously getting in your way. You: How you handle adversaries is basically your combat report.
19
In a Smash Bros. match you are the one who… The Smash meta never lies about character.
20
The final boss is right there. This is THE moment. GO! Twenty questions led to this. No saving now.
The Legend Has Been Chosen YOUR NINTENDO LEGEND
Your scores are revealed below! The character with the highest number is your Nintendo alter-ego. Read their profile to discover your true gaming legend destiny.
Link
Toad
Samus
Kirby
Pikachu
You’re the chosen one who never asked for the title but took it anyway. Brave, methodical, and quietly carrying the weight of an entire kingdom on your shoulders — you prefer action over words and wisdom over brute force. People rely on you completely, and somehow you always find the right key for the right lock. You don’t show off. You just show up. Every single time.
You are the backbone of every group, and everyone secretly knows it. Enthusiastic, loyal, and somehow always the first one to show up when things go wrong — you make everyone around you feel capable and energized. You don’t get enough credit, and you genuinely don’t mind. You run into danger at full speed with a smile on your face and a war cry echoing behind you. Legendary support energy.
Highly competent, quietly intimidating, and deeply independent. You don’t need a team, you don’t need applause, and you definitely don’t need anyone telling you how to handle the Metroids. You’ve survived situations that would end anyone else, and you did it alone, in silence, with zero complaints. Underneath the armor is someone with more depth than anyone in the room — they just rarely get to see it. Their loss.
You look like pure joy and you are pure joy — but don’t let anyone mistake that for weakness. You absorb everything life throws at you and come back stronger, cuter, and somehow even more powerful. You find delight in everything, you’re beloved by literally everyone, and when push comes to shove you will inhale a god and become that god without breaking a sweat. Chaos wrapped in a smile.
You’re electric — literally and figuratively. Bursting with energy, fiercely loyal to your people, and always ready to give everything you have for the ones who matter. You’re small but your presence fills every room you walk into. You compete hard, play harder, and your enthusiasm is genuinely contagious. People may underestimate you at first glance. They don’t make that mistake twice.
Ocarina of Time was the first 3D The Legend of Zelda game, doing away with the pixel art and top-down perspective of earlier installments, and it introduced several elements that would become iconic parts of The Legend of Zelda franchise. Races such as the all-female Gerudo and the rock-eating Gorons debuted in this game, as did the Sea Zora, a friendlier counterpart to the monstrous River Zora who appeared in the first few entries.
Likewise, Ocarina of Time was the first game to feature Ganondorf, the humanoid form of the series’ most frequently recurring antagonist, Ganon. The game also introduced Link’s famous blue shield, the Hylian Shield, along with a long list of other weapons and miscellaneous items that would go on to appear in future installments.
Additionally, the 2011 book Hyrule Historia revealed that Ocarina of Time‘s events were key to understanding The Legend of Zelda‘s infamously complicated chronology. As a result of Link’s time travel, the series’ timeline split into three branching realities after Ocarina of Time, explaining some seemingly contradictory pieces of lore in the other games.
The Legend of Zelda Film Must Appeal to a Wide Audience
Link and Zelda sit in the grass with hills in the background.Image via Sony Pictures Releasing
Ocarina of Time revolutionized not just The Legend of Zelda but the entire medium of gaming, making it one of the Nintendo 64’s most noteworthy titles. It would therefore be a logical basis for The Legend of Zelda‘s foray onto the big screen, and its upcoming remake could be Nintendo’s way to remind general audiences of the game before a film that draws heavy inspiration from it.
Famous as Ocarina of Time is to avid gamers, it may not be as well known among the casual crowd that the live-action film needs to capture if it hopes to reach the same levels of box office success as Nintendo’s two preceding movies. As the second-best-selling video game console of all time, the Nintendo Switch introduced millions to The Legend of Zelda franchise for the first time, and these newer fans have likely only played the games from Breath of the Wild onward.
Ocarina of Time is playable as part of the Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack, but only those who played the original game on the Nintendo 64 and feel nostalgia for the retro adventure are likely to seek it out. A remake on the Nintendo Switch 2 will attract a wider audience that can then be funneled towards the film.
A few aspects of Ball’s take on The Legend of Zelda have already been shown to differ from Ocarina of Time. For example, the costumes of Link and Princess Zelda clearly take inspiration from Breath of the Wild. However, even if the film is not a direct adaptation of Ocarina of Time, it could still draw inspiration from the game. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie took this approach; its plot was largely original, but it included several characters, a few story beats, and the overall cosmic setting from the Super Mario Galaxy games.
The Legend of Zelda Film Should Take Cues From Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda film could follow the basic setup of Ocarina of Time even if the story diverges in some key ways. The game began with Link receiving a prophetic dream about Ganondorf conquering Hyrule. At the suggestion of the Great Deku Tree, he sought out Zelda, who gave him a mission to claim the mystical Triforce and prevent Ganondorf’s rise to power.
Ocarina of Time‘s time travel might be too complicated for the first installment of a film franchise, as it would render the story harder to follow and necessitate multiple actors to play younger and older versions of most roles. Besides, the time travel was mostly a gameplay mechanic for the sake of solving puzzles, so it would probably be less interesting in a non-interactive medium.
It is possible that the release of an Ocarina of Time remake so shortly before The Legend of Zelda film is a mere coincidence, but Nintendo has recently displayed a similar type of cross-media synergy. Star Fox protagonist Fox McCloud made an appearance in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and just one month later, a remake of Star Fox 64 was announced. This could even explain the Ocarina of Time remake’s divisive graphics.
All The Legend of Zelda games, ranging from the cartoony The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker to the dark and moody The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, have been heavily stylized in one way or another. However, the brief snippet of Ocarina of Time shown in the Nintendo Direct looked much more realistic. Perhaps this was a deliberate choice to align the aesthetic of the game with that of the live-action film. Regardless of the connection between the two projects, The Legend of Zelda fans have plenty to look forward to in the coming year.
