The Legend of Zelda (film)

The Legend of Zelda is a 2008 live-action/computer-animated fantasy adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Nintendo and written by David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin, and based on the video game series. It stars Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, and Anthony Hopkins as the characters. The film follows Link as he embarks on a quest to save Princess Zelda from the clutches of the sinister Ganondorf. It is also the seventh film in the Nintendo Cinematic Multiverse (NCM).

After the mixed reception to Universal's 1996 film The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo reacquired the rights to the character though Universal retained distribution rights. Zemeckis, who had expressed interest in directing Kirby for Nintendo, was brought onboard and Haggins began work on a script that would be much closer to the 1989 television series of the same name.

It was also a box office success, grossing $617 million against a $101 million budget, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2008, and received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the plot, casting, performances (particularly of Cruise and Kidman), humor, action sequences, visual effects, emotional weight, and faithfulness to the source material.. It was praised for its darker plot, sets and a story appropriate for a young audience. It was followed by The Legend of Zelda: The Sacred Realm (2010).

Plot
In the mystical land of Hyrule, Princess Zelda is officially marked the queen of the Hyrule kingdom. As the ancient ceremony commences, the kingdom is attacked by Ganondorf. The King fights Ganondorf, and Ganondorf promises his return. Link, a poor teenage elf, visits The King and asks if there are any open spots to be a Knight. The King forces Link to exit the Kingdom, making Link begin to lose hope for a bright future. Princess Zelda arranges a spot on the force behind her father’s back. Unbeknownst to The King and Zelda, Link is in love with Zelda.

Link and Zelda have a deal that if Zelda keeps Link’s employment a secret, Link would collect her favorite fruits for her every night. While stealing a fruit for Zelda, he returns to the Kingdom when The King falls asleep. During this, Link and Zelda inadvertently reveal their feelings to each other and they share a kiss. The Next Day, Link is caught by the King, who threatens to kick him out of Hyrule. As Link packs his things to leave, Ganondorf attacks the Kingdom and kills The King. After a fight, Ganondorf kidnaps Zelda and takes her to his Kingdom. Slowly dying, The King uses his final wish to have Link bring Zelda home and save her from Ganondorf’s evil plot. Link promises the dying King that he will bring Zelda back and he sets out to save her from Ganondorf.

In Gabondorf’s lair, Zelda wakes up inside a cage and receives a visit from Ganondorf. As Ganondorf tells her about the dead King, Zelda assures Ganondorf that Link is coming to save her. Ganondorf uses a magic crystal ball and discovers that Link really is coming. Furious, he sends an army of monsters to kill him. Ganondorf then reassures Zelda that Link will never arrive at the Castle.

Link fights an army of Trolls and interrogates them about Zelda. In an unknown language that Link understands, they tell Link that Ganondorf’s castle is the most heavily guarded castle in the universe. Link then kills the Trolls after they summon Ganondorf’s henchmen to kill him. Link escapes the Trolls and comes across a waterfall. As he begins to give up, he finds a wounded dragon and saves its life from trolls. Link then uses his training against Ganondorf on a log. He destroys the log and prepares to defeat Ganondorf and save Zelda. The Trolls tell Ganondorf’s henchmen about where Link is going to save Zelda and the henchmen follow him. Link searches for the Castle and discovers where it is. He then fights off the sneaky henchmen and prepares to defeat Ganondorf.

Link arrives at Ganondorf’s castle. After being attacked by henchmen, Link enters Ganondorf’s throne. As Link arrives, Ganondorf prepares to kill Zelda in an act of vengeance for his dead henchmen. Link fights Ganondorf, but is overpowered as Ganondorf is revealed to have killed Link’s parents. Link uses the power of love and trust to kill Ganondorf, and he ends up destroying Ganon’s castle and returning to Hyrule together with Zelda. The two begin to date and The King, who was aided after the attack, allows Link to date Zelda and keep his job as a Knight.

In a mid-credit scene, Ganondorf teams up with Bowser to devise a plot created by Master Hand.

Cast

 * Tom Cruise as Link (motion-capture)
 * Bill Hader as Link (voice)
 * Nicole Kidman as Princess Zelda
 * Christopher Plummer as King Harkinikan
 * Russi Taylor as Spryte
 * Mona Marshall as Impa
 * April Winchell as Triforce of Power
 * Julie Andrews as Triforce of Wisdom
 * Jason Marsden as Prince of Hyrule
 * Jim Cummings as Error
 * Jonathan Frakes as Bagu
 * Drew Barrymore as Kidnapped Child
 * Jonathan Winters as The Wise Men
 * Robin Williams as Tingle
 * Rob Paulsen as The Riven Man
 * Kath Soucie as The Healing Lady
 * Frank Welker as Magician

Pre-production
After the release of Zemeckis' The Legend of Zelda in 1996, screenwriter James Schamus was planning a sequel which would continue the story featuring Link. During the filming of the original film, producer Shigeru Miyamoto had a target June 2006 theatrical release date. On January 18, 2005, Miyamoto confirmed Nintendo would be providing the money for The Legend of Zelda 's production budget, with Universal distributing, because Universal did not meet the deadline for filming a sequel. Nintendo felt it would be better to deviate from his old style to continue the franchise, arguing his film was like a parallel universe one-shot comic book, and their next film needed to be, in Shigeru Miyamoto's words, "really starting the Nintendo Zelda franchise". In August 2006, a July 2, 2008, release date was set.

During production of Super Mario Bros., it was announced that a Legend of Zelda reboot film was in development, with Cruise and Kidman officially signed on to portray Link and Zelda. Brian Lee was later cast as Ganondorf, which was also requested by some fans. It was announced that the film would focus on the origin story of a young Link, while keeping the themes from the game series.

Filming
Principal photography took place between October 2006 and September 2007, making it take the longest to film in the NCU. Filming took place in Alaska and Hawaii, with some green screen effects added to the film.

Music

 * Further information: The Legend of Zelda (soundtrack) and Music of the Nintendo Cinematic Multiverse

Theatrical
Coming soon

Home media
The Legend of Zelda was released on home media on December 9, 2008 in the United States on DVD (in separate widescreen and pan and scan editions), HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

Box office
The Legend of Zelda opened theatrically on July 2, 2008, alongside WALL-E, Wanted and Tell No One, and grossed $22.2 million in its opening weekend, ranking number three at the North American box office behind Hancock.

The Legend of Zelda grossed $500 million in the United States and Canada, and $200 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $700 million. With a production budget of $200 million, Zelda is Nolan's most expensive original project. IndieWire speculated that the marketing could push the final sum to $300–350 million, though analysts predicted lower advertising costs than usual, owing to inexpensive live sports ads. Box office analyst Jeff Bock estimated it would need to make $400–$500 million in order to break even. In September 2008, rival studios expected the film to lose up to $100 million, but Nintendo insisted losses would not top $50 million. Zemeckis was reported to receive twenty percent of the first-dollar gross.

Zelda was projected to take $25–30 million internationally over its first five days. In South Korea, pre-sale IMAX tickets sold out and weekend previews totaled $717,000 from 590 venues. Another four days there yielded $4.13 million from about 2,200 screens, bringing the cume to $5.1 million by the end of the week. The film debuted to $53 million in forty-one countries, grossing $7.1 million in the United Kingdom, $6.7 million in France, and $4.2 million in Germany. Hancock made $58.1 million in its second weekend, with China ($30 million from first showings), the U.K. ($13.1 million), France ($10.7 million), Germany ($8.7 million), and South Korea ($8.2 million) as its largest markets. Its third weekend garnered $30.6 million, comprising $16.4 million from the U.K., $13.2 million from France, $11.4 million from Germany, $10.3 million from South Korea, and $10.2 million from China. Two weeks in Japan accumulated $11.4 million. Zelda opened in India on October 4, 2008, and made about $576,000 in the first three days. Hancock became the highest grossing film of all time in Estonia, with a total gross of $1.2 million.

With 65% of American and Canadian theaters operating at 25–40% capacity, the first eleven days acquired $20.2 million from 2,810 theaters; $2.5 million in Canada, $12 million in the U.S., and the rest from previews. The second, third, and fourth weekends added $6.7 million, $4.7 million, and $3.4 million, respectively. Hancock remained atop the box office in its fifth weekend with $2.7 million, before ceding to The Dark Knight in its sixth weekend.

Critical response
The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the plot, casting, performances (particularly of Cruise and Kidman), humor, action sequences, visual effects, emotional weight, and faithfulness to the source material. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 87% score, based on 55 reviews, with an average score of 8.54 out of 10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “The Legend of Zelda is a action-packed adventure that all fans of the series will enjoy, and proves that 2020 isn’t such a bad year for movies after all.” On an A+ to F Scale, the film received a “B+”.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 78% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A life-affirming, if saccharine, epic treatment of a spirit-lifting figure in sports history". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A on scale of A to F.

Robert Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3.5 stars out of 4, and wrote: "The movie's races are thrilling because they must be thrilling; there's no way for the movie to miss on those, but Zemeckis and cinematographer, Erik Messerschmidt, get amazingly close to the action."

Accolades
Coming soon

Sequels
Coming soon

Transcripts
Coming soon