Netflix and Nintendo poised to press play on live action Zelda series
Netflix is to partner with Nintendo to produce a live action series based on the latter’s popular Legend of Zelda games.
The show is in the early stages of development, according to the Wall Street Journal as the streaming service assembles a production team. A mix of Game of Thrones with Zelda’s more family-friendly themes is what Netflix envisions for a show that could mine storylines and characters from around 25 games, according to the report.
Additional details are scarce. Both Netflix and Nintendo declined to confirm the show to the Wall Street Journal.
It signals a change in attitude for the Japanese video games publisher, which is renowned for being very protective over its brands. Consequently, adaptations of its video games are few and far between with an animated “Legend of Zelda” show in 1989 and a largely unpopular movie of flagship character Super Mario in 1993 the most notable.
Nintendo is under pressure to make more money from its brands after struggling to cement a strategy around the current gaming generation. The company’s revenue slid 11 per cent year-on-year in the last nine months of 2014, generating 443bn yen (£2.4bn). Despite the sales dip, Nintendo’s profits rise 494 per cent year-on-year to 59.5bn (£327.7m).
For Netflix, a Zelda show would offer a chance to win over new subscribers. The series has a massive following worldwide that would likely flock to the streaming service en masse to sample at least one episode. Due to the fees involved in licensing existing shows, Netflix is prioritising its own content and plans to launch 320 hours of original series in 2015, triple the amount it released in 2014.