Summary
- Wes Ball, the director of The Legend of Zelda movie, initially believed he would never have the chance to direct such a project, as a resurfaced 2010 tweet reveals.
- Ball said a live-action Zelda movie should be the next “mo-cap Avatar-like movie,” potentially teasing his approach to the material.
- While details about the movie are scarce, given Ball’s familiarity with motion capture technology after Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and the demands of the source material, using Avatar’s technology seems like a perfect fit.
Wes Ball, the director of the newly announced The Legend of Zelda movie, once thought his ambitious new project was never possible. Recently announced by Nintendo executive and game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Maze Runner and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Ball has been tapped to helm a live-action adaptation of the hit video game series. Since the original 1986 game, the franchise has spawned multiple sequels and spinoffs, with installments developed for each of Nintendo’s constantly evolving game consoles.
However, following the surprising announcement, an old tweet of Ball’s from 2010 has resurfaced, revealing the director never believed he would be responsible for such a project. Check out his original post below:
In a surprise twist, Ball once suggested that he “could never even hope to have the chance to direct” The Legend of Zelda movie. However, his original tweet is still somewhat prophetic, given that his original reference to another “big mo-cap Avatar-like movie” will now seemingly follow on from 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water.
Why Avatar’s Motion Capture Technology Would Be Perfect For The Legend of Zelda Movie
Set in the magical world of Hyrule, The Legend of Zelda series is well known for incorporating a wide variety of fantastical creatures and unfamiliar races. Even the series’ main character, Link, is not a human character. Instead, he belongs to Hyrule’s predominate elf-like race known as Hylians. While it may be possible for Ball to recreate Link and the other Hylians using simple prosthetics, much like the Elves in The Lord of the Rings, there are several other species that would be far more difficult to achieve practically.
Between the rock-like Gorons, the aquatic Zora, and countless others that inhabit the magical world of Hyrule, the kind of motion capture technology used in the Avatar movies will be essential in providing audiences with a truly immersive viewing experience. Moreover, with Ball now intimately familiar with motion capture technology thanks to his time directing the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, he seems like a natural choice to bring the popular video games to life.
Interestingly, Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes was also written by Avatar: The Way of Water screenwriter Josh Friedman.
At this stage, however, the details surrounding The Legend of Zelda movie are scant, and it is possible that Ball may elect to take a different route and avoid the use of motion capture altogether. However, given both his own filmmaking experience and the demands of the source material, the use of Avatar’s own technology seems like a perfect fit for the project.
Source: Wes Ball/Twitter
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
