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Nintendo scored a runaway success with its animated "Super Mario
Bros" movie this year, which has underscored the box-office
appeal of video game adaptations and helped drive demand for its
aging Switch console.
Shares jumped 6%, a day after Nintendo reported it sold 6.84
million Switch units in the first half of the financial year,
supported by incremental hardware updates and titles featuring
its popular roster of characters.
The "Zelda" film will be produced by "Super Mario" creator
Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad, the veteran producer of movies
such as "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse".
The two men have been working on an adaptation of the "Zelda"
franchise for many years but the movie will take time, according
to posts on social media by Nintendo.
The "Zelda" film will be co-financed by Nintendo and Sony, which
is also meeting success in adapting game franchises, and
directed by Wes Ball, whose movies including the upcoming
"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes".
Nintendo said on Tuesday it had sold 19.5 million units of the
latest "Zelda" game at September-end as the series continues to
deliver hits almost 40 years after its first instalment.
While gaming remains Nintendo's core profit driver, sales in its
mobile and intellectual property related business more than
doubled to 55 billion yen ($365.86 million) in the first half of
the current financial year.
The "Zelda" movie development comes at a time of renewed
appetite for adaptations of Japanese franchises globally, with
examples including Netflix's recently launched adaptation of
long running pirate manga series "One Piece".
($1 = 150.3300 yen)
(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Sandra Maler and
Christopher Cushing)
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