Video game giant Nintendo has reportedly cancelled its live-action Legend of Zelda Netflix TV series after news of its existence leaked. As one of the most widely celebrated and adored video game franchises in the world, Zelda has always had plenty to offer gamers. With so much material to work with, a TV adaptation arguably had limitless potential.
Nintendo’s first entry in the series was 1986’s The Legend of Zelda – an engaging fantasy RPG that provided a highly enjoyable entry into the genre for many gamers. Within a year, TLOZ was followed up with its first sequel, The Adventure of Link. This too was a hit, however, throughout the remainder of the 1980’s and 90’s, Nintendo remained relatively quiet with the franchise, releasing just four more games. Throughout subsequent decades, the series began to re-establish itself in new ways, on far more powerful consoles than what had come before. As the series found a new generation of fans while still managing to keep long-time fans satisfied, Nintendo began to consider new directions for the property.
As of 2015, news that Netflix was going to team up with Nintendo on a live-action Legend of Zelda TV series was cause for celebration among fans of the franchise. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. As per a recent statement made by comedian Adam Conover on The Serf Times podcast, Nintendo’s entire plan to work with Netflix on a Legend of Zelda series, as well as a claymation adaptation of Star Fox, was abruptly cancelled. The reason for the cancellation was reportedly due to a Netflix employee leaking news of the Zelda series online. The leak promptly caused Nintendo to “freak out” and pull the plug on “everything”:
"Suddenly there were reports Netflix wasn't going to do its Legend of Zelda anymore. 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."
At present, there is no confirmation from either Netflix or Nintendo that it was, in fact, a leak that brought their relationship on these projects to an end. Seeing as how news arrived in 2015 that a Legend of Zelda TV series was on its way, it’s clear that some six years later, it isn’t likely to be happening. Nintendo has always been strict with its business model, working hard over the many decades of its existence to preserve the integrity of the brand. For this reason, it’s entirely credible that leaked information about an upcoming project like Zelda would not sit well with Nintendo executives.
This is indeed a frustrating story for fans of The Legend of Zelda to hear. While it’s understandable that Nintendo wants to protect its brand and the projects it pursues, it does seem like a bit of an overreaction on the video game company’s part. News that the projects were going to happen was hardly a major spoiler, so pulling the plug as a result of that news spreading does seem strange. However, for Nintendo, perhaps it was more a matter of professionalism. Netflix proved itself untrustworthy and Nintendo responded by ending their relationship. It’s a tough result to bear, but ultimately it’s a lesson in how highly Nintendo regards secrecy and professionalism on its projects.
Source: The Serf Times
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