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Nintendo confirms live-action ‘Zelda’ movie

STORY: Nintendo is diving head first into live-action movies with a new real-life adaptation of its popular ‘Legend of Zelda’ games.The company announced the project on Wednesday as their latest push beyond their core gaming business– trading on their popular characters with theme parks and movies.It saw runaway success with a ‘Super Mario Bros.’ film in April.It was the highest-grossing box office of the year – up until “Barbie” – and underscored the appeal of Nintendo’s franchises.Now, in adapting its other blockbuster series, ‘Mario’ and ‘Zelda’ creator Shigeru Miyamoto says he’s working with veteran Hollywood producer Avi Arad.Miyamoto says the two have been working on a “Zelda” adaptation for many years……though Nintendo, in posts on social media, said the movie will take time. It’s a good time to spin up hype for a ‘Zelda’ movie. This summer saw the 40-year-old series’ latest instalment, ‘Tears of the Kingdom’. Nintendo says it sold nearly 20 million units by the end of September. The company also said Wednesday it had already sold four million copies of ‘Super Mario Bros. Wonder’– the first new Mario game in a decade that plays in its classic side-scrolling style– in the two weeks after its October release. While gaming remains Nintendo’s core profit driver, in the first half of the current financial year, sales more than doubled in its mobile and intellectual property related business, like its Super Nintendo World parks in Hollywood and Japan.