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Nintendo has confirmed the lead actors for its upcoming live-action The Legend of Zelda movie.
Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth.
The casting was confirmed on social media today in a statement from Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who said he was “very much looking forward” to seeing the pair in the series’ iconic lead roles.
“This is Miyamoto,” wrote Miyamoto. “I am pleased to announce that for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason-san, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san. I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen.
“The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 7, 2027. Thank you for your patience.”
Bragason, 21, previously appeared in Netflix fantasy adventure series Renegade Nell, as well as BBC crime drama adaptation The Jetty.
Ainsworth, aged just 16, has only a handful of roles to his name, though notably appeared in Netflix horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Today’s image of the pair looks to feature the actors in some sort of costume for their roles, with Bragason’s blue dress reminiscent of the color she wears in Breath of the Wild. Ainsworth, meanwhile, wears what appears to be a dark green tunic.
Officially announced in November 2023Nintendo’s live-action The Legend of Zelda project is being produced by Miyamoto alongside Avi Arad, former CEO of Marvel Studios. Sony Pictures Entertainment will handle distribution in addition to co-financing the movie with Nintendo. Jurassic World’s Derek Connolly is writing the screenplay, while Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ Wes Ball will direct.
Last month, Nintendo delayed the film’s release from March 2027 to its new May 7, 2027 date — the day Marvel was previously set to launch Avengers: Secret Warswhich now arrives on December 17, 2027 instead.
“For production reasons, we are changing the release date of the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda to May 7, 2027,” Miyamoto said at the time. “It will be some weeks later than the release timing we originally announced, and we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it can be. Thank you for your patience.”
Nintendo did not elaborate further, though industry onlookers noted that the film’s new slot gave it more breathing room from several other spring 2027 blockbusters, such as Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, and Nintendo’s old rival himself: Sonic The Hedgehog.
With less than two years to go until The Legend of Zelda opens in theaters, Nintendo is yet to say anything of the film’s story or setting. Today’s casting news is the biggest piece of information about the project to materialise since its initial announcement.
Discussing the film in May 2024, director Wes Ball said the prospect of making an all mo-cap Zelda movie “probably isn’t his choice” after completing work on the CG-heavy KIngdom of the Planet of the Apes. Instead, Ball said, The Legend of Zelda should feel “grounded” and “real.”
“I want to fulfill people’s greatest desires,” Ball said in another interview about the project. “I know it’s important, this franchise, to people, and I want it to be a serious movie. A real movie that can give people an escape… [It has] to feel like something real. Something serious and cool but fun and whimsical.”
Before all that, Nintendo’s big-screen plans continue in 2026 with the arrival of its animated Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel. The company also appears to have plans for an animated Donkey Kong spin-off filmtoo.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
