Stranger Things Star Wants To Adapt The Greatest Video Game Ever Into A Movie
Gaten Matarazzo wants an animated The Legend of Zelda adaptation that doesn't bother with dialogue.
Right now, Nintendo fans are eagerly anticipating The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a CGI-animated film that is effectively a second chance to give this beloved franchise a proper film. However, Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo is focused more on the need for a movie adapting The Legend of Zelda. In a recent interview with Variety, he said that he “always wanted to see a very visually and musically driven animated film” based on the world of Hyrule.
Apparently, Gaten Matarazzo is being quite literal when he says he wants a Zelda movie that is driven by visuals and music. In the interview, he expressed the difficulty of bringing this game world to life when the characters never speak to one another. He would like to see a studio roll with this concept and create “a vocally silent world” where the story is told entirely through killer visuals and an excellent musical score.
And this idea makes a special kind of sense when it comes to Zelda. Previous attempts at giving these characters voices have resulted in cringe content worthy only of memes, including the infamous “well, EXCUSE me, Princess” from the 1989 The Legend of Zelda cartoon and the downright haunting cutscenes from those weird Philips CD-i games. If it’s a choice between that kind of insanity or a fully silent world, then we’re happy to go with Gaten Matarazzo’s idea.
Another thing that makes this concept so brilliant is that it would sidestep the endless discourse surrounding voice casting for video game adaptations. When the first trailer was released for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, some fans were dismayed to hear Chris Pratt’s bland take on Mario while others were overjoyed to hear Jack Black breathe fiery life into Bowser. If we got a CGI-animated Zelda film the way that Gaten Matarazzo wants, then crazed fans would have one less thing to fight each other over.
And as animation lovers know, there is plenty of great content out there that features no dialogue. This includes everything from Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner movies to film adaptations of Shaun the Sheep. Of course, those characters and plots are much simpler than the ones in the various Zelda games, and Gaten Matarazzo has acknowledged that bringing his particular cinematic vision to life would be “challenging.”
Also challenging has been previous attempts to create modern media centered on Zelda. For example, there were strong rumors last year that Nintendo was planning a live-action Zelda television show but decided to kill the project after the press got wind of it. That report was never confirmed, but if Nintendo really has been trying to find the right way to bring Zelda to audiences, we love the idea that Gaten Matarazzo came up with.
However, all of this may be putting the cart in front of the horse. Before Gaten Matarazzo can see his Zelda film on the big screen, The Super Mario Bros. Movie will need to be a suitable hit (unlike the original live-action adaptation). If that happens, then Nintendo might be willing to say “let’s a go” to film adaptations of other beloved franchises.
