Legend of Zelda movie director addresses if Link will talk

Wes Ball, the director of the upcoming live-action Legend of Zelda movie, has addressed if fans can expect to hear Link’s voice in the film.

After The Super Mario Bros Movie became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time, Nintendo green-lit a big-screen take on Zelda from the Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes filmmaker, working alongside Spider-Verse producer Avi Arad to bring it to life.

It’s unclear what game the film will adapt; there’s every chance it could be an original story, or it could borrow elements from Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, or Breath of the Wild. However, in terms of the Zelda experience fans know and love, should they expect to hear Link speak in the movie?

Speaking to Comic Book, Ball said: “A or B or C. I’ll just have it like the game — you just have a little dialogue boxes pop up in the movie and you pick which one you want. Link does communicate to villagers all over through the game, you just don’t hear his voice.”

It’s a non-committal answer, but it echoes Ball’s recent comments on Zelda in other interviews; the project is still early in development, and there’s only so much he’s allowed to talk about.

For example, he told Polygon that it likely won’t be a fully mo-capped movie, instead hoping to make it more “grounded and real… we’re working hard, and we’re gonna make something great. Nintendo will pop out of the bushes here and like yank me away.”

Rest assured, Ball is passionate about making a movie that fans will love (for reference, he first tweeted about his dreams of helming a Zelda adaptation in 2010). He earlier said he hoped it would be like a “live-action Studio Ghibli” film.

Derek Connolly, who penned the script for Jurassic World and Colin Trevorrow’s axed Star Wars: Episode IX — Duel of the Fates, is reported to be writing the screenplay. No casting details have been announced for the project, despite fake AI imagery linking Tom Holland to the role of Link.

In the meantime, read what we want from the Legend of Zelda movie.