Fans of The Legend of Zelda series could have just dodged a bullet, depending on how much they like Illumination. Following a report last week that the Universal-owned animation studio was in talks to acquire the film rights to another Nintendo flagship IP, the company’s CEO pushed back today.
The initial report from entertainment reporter Jeff Sneider said that Universal was close to closing a “big deal” to secure the movie rights for Zelda, which would lead to Illumination co-producing the film with Nintendo in hopes of another billion-dollar success like The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
This led to mixed reactions from fans of the franchise who were concerned that Illumination’s track record of playing it safe and playing to mass apparel with its films could bog down a potential adaptation of many Zelda stories. Many specifically noted that this was not because they thought the studio and its animators would do a bad job visually, but because the story would need to be told in a way Illumination is not known for.
During the Annecy International Animation Festival, TheWrap spoke with Illumination co-founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and asked him about the Sneider reports, to which he responded with very light denial.
“I don’t know where that [report] came from,” Meledandri said to TheWrap. “I mean I can understand how people would surmise all sorts of things because obviously, we’ve had a great experience working together. 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.”
Meledandri joined Nintendo’s board of directors in June 2021 as an outside director focused on providing advice from an “objective perspective” when it came to expanding the company’s efforts in the wider entertainment industry. He also notably worked as a producer on the Mario Bros. movie alongside Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, though he has done so on all of Illumination’s productions.
A response like this from Meledandri does make a lot of sense from his position since Illumination and Universal’s partnership with Nintendo is secure, and his own role with the company mixes entertainment ventures and providing insight to the company.
It also lines up with Nintendo’s early philosophy of extending its IP into areas beyond games and marketing only where it can find “great partners” that “deeply understand the characters and deeply understand the game are involved.”
This is great news for fans of Zelda that did show concern over the potential partnership, with the doors now remaining open for the franchise to land with other studios like Dreamworks or the distant possibility of Studio Ghibli getting in on the action. Just remember that this is not an outright denial of a future deal for Illumination on the Zelda front, just a push back on the current reporting.
Heck, the only believable part of this quote is Benjamin Renner, the director of Illumination’s upcoming film Migration, saying he sees “one report every week” and this time Zelda was the IP that popped up.
After the success Mario saw, it is likely that Nintendo’s focus on bringing its franchises to animation, which was mentioned back in April 2021 by Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, will see new developments soon—both with Illumination and other partners. We just have to wait and see which franchise lands where at this point.
Published: Jun 15, 2023 06:01 pm