"The Legend of Zelda" director says his film won't be like "Lord of the Rings", it will be more like a "live-action version of Miyazaki"

Wes Ball is confident that his adaptation of the popular video game "The Legend of Zelda" will exceed all expectations.

Here's What We Know

The original 1986 game is believed to be inspired by the "Lord of the Rings" books. Because of this, many probably expect "The Legend of Zelda" to be similar to the "Lord of the Rings" films in terms of atmosphere, especially since both universes feature elves, swords, horses, towers, princesses, and epic battles.

But, Ball seems to be looking more towards animated films like Princess Mononoke or even Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which are the work of Hayao Miyazaki, for inspiration.

So, according to information from EW, this is what Ball himself says when describing "The Legend of Zelda": "This awesome fantasy-adventure movie that isn’t like Lord of the Rings, it’s its own thing. I've always said, I would love to see a live-action Miyazaki. That wonder and whimsy that he brings to things, I would love to see something like that.".

Anime director Hayao Miyazaki is known for his unique style, which combines soft and painterly but extremely colourful backgrounds with simpler but expressive characters. Miyazaki's style makes even the bloodiest of fights (as in Princess Mononoke) look dreamy. The same style has been attributed to the recent Zelda games, "Breath of the Wild," "Age of Calamity" and "Tears of the Kingdom," which use a hybrid 2D and 3D animation style known as cel-shading that recalls this "dreamy" atmosphere.

- "My whole life has led up to this moment. I grew up on Zelda and it is the most important property, I think, that’s untapped IP, if you will. So we very much are working hard to do something. We’re not just trying to do it because we can. We want to make something really special." Ball continued.

When We Can Expect It

A release date for The Legend of Zelda film is not yet known.