Well, after what felt like an eternity of fan casting, Reddit wars, and enough AI-generated Link posters to power Midjourney’s servers into the next millenia, we finally have our real-life Zelda and Link. No, it’s not Timothée Chalamet in a blond wig or Florence Pugh wielding a bow — it’s actually Bo Bragason and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth.
Link will be played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth in the live action The Legend of Zelda movie, out in 2027. pic.twitter.com/f5sXQCvXjW
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) July 16, 2025
Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason in the live action The Legend of Zelda film in 2027. pic.twitter.com/7GVSMqod3C
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards) July 16, 2025
The news broke like a pot in Kakariko Village early this morning when Nintendo’s own Shigeru Miyamoto popped up on the official Nintendo Twitter page (because we refuse to call it “X”) and dropped the casting bombshell himself.
“This is 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 has been quietly leveling up since Sony announced it would team up with Nintendo to co-finance the project back in the fall of 2023. It comes from director Wes Ball, best known for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and for probably being yelled at by Zelda fans online for the last six months. Producing the adventure are Miyamoto himself and Marvel-veteran-turned-video-game-savant Avi Arad (r’uh r’oh, Raggy). Meanwhile, the script was most recently polished by T.S. Nowlin, whose past credits include The Maze Runner films — so we know he’s at least experienced in writing about silent protagonists sprinting through complex labyrinths.
Casting rumors were as rampant as Cuccos in a bar fight as Hunter Schafer trended for months as a fan-favorite pick for Zelda, and Link hopefuls ranged from anime-haired TikTokers to full-grown men who own Ocarina of Time cosplay their mom’s made two decades ago.
The movie is set to hit theaters on May 7, 2027 — just enough time for everyone to completely change their minds about the casting three more times, and for a new generation of fans to ask why Navi isn’t voiced by Megan Thee Stallion.
