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Nintendo reportedly scrapped a live-action Legend of Zelda series with Netflix after news of the project leaked and circulated online.
As reported by Eurogamer, US comedian Adam Conover who was aware of a secret Star Fox claymation project around the same time, revealed that Nintendo canceled its proposed slate of video game adaptations with Netflix after someone from the company allegedly spread the word about the Zelda series. The Wall Street Journal shared details of the adaptation and Nintendo rescinded the show.
"Suddenly there were reports Netflix wasn't going to do its Legend of Zelda anymore," Conover recently recalled, speaking on The Serf Times podcast. "I was like 'what happened?' And then I heard from my boss we weren't doing our Star Fox anymore. I was like 'what happened?' He was like, 'someone at Netflix leaked the Legend of Zelda thing.' They weren't supposed to talk about it, Nintendo freaked out... and they pulled the plug on everything, the entire programme to adapt these things."
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News of the prospective live-action Legend of Zelda series with Netflix hit headlines back in 2015 when "a person familiar with the matter" reportedly told WSJ that the streamer had described the upcoming show as "Game of Thrones for a family audience," with a story that would follow Link's conquest to save Princess Zelda and the land of Hyrule. However, little more was said after that.
In the years since then, video game adaptations have become big business on Netflix as the games market has experienced rapid growth, and interest in gaming has exploded even more so during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Netflix wants to be the service that players turn to when they need to take a break from gaming, and the streamer is making big moves to make it happen.
For more on Tomb Raider, Assassin's Creed, and other video game projects, check out our slideshow below or click through to our article about why we think Netflix is the best place for video game adaptations.
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.
Correction: An original version of this story incorrectly stated that Conover worked on the Star Fox project. Conover clarified that their employer at the time was working on this project, which is how they became aware of it. The story has been edited to highlight this correction and we regret the error.