Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has categorically denied that he is about to cut a deal with Netflix to develop a live-action series based on The Legend of Zelda.
In an interview with Time he said of a Wall Street Journal story that originally claimed that Netflix was close to cutting a deal with the Japanese gaming company “As of now, I have nothing new to share with you in regard to the use of our IPs for any TV shows or films, but I can at least confirm that the article in question is not based on correct information,” Iwata told.
The WSJ which is owned by News Corporation report claimed the series being developed was as a family version of Game of Thrones, with hero Link rescuing Princess Zelda and protecting the land of Hyrule.
The Zelda franchise is no stranger to television. In the 1980s, Nintendo launched a cartoon based on the property, as well as one featuring Super Mario Bros.
Meanwhile, a new instalment of The Legend of Zelda video game is expected to launch for the Wii U later this year.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings who was in Australia this week spruiking his new OZ service which is 7,000 titles short of the US service has been left embarrassed
Back in January he had a crack about HBO chief Richard Plepler when he suggested that his rival used “Netflix bitch” as a password on the video-streaming service. However the joke has backfired on Hastings when HBO parent Time Warner scheduled its annual investor presentation a few hours ahead of Netflix’s third-quarter earnings release to announce that HBO is taking on Netflix with their own streaming service and that Apple will carry the service on their Apple TV network.
ChannelNews has been told that Apple has approached HBO regarding the Australian market. They have proposed that as soon as HBO contracts in Australia are finished that HBO choose to stream their service to the Australian market via the Apple network.
HBO will be available as a standalone subscription project-just Netflix.
Bloomberg is reporting that Time Warner is also considering broadening its planned HBO Now online service to include shows from Turner Broadcasting networks such as TBS and TNT, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
Currently these programs are available on Foxtel.
Executives at Time Warner who own the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, said that the discussions are early and part of a broader conversation at Time Warner about how to deploy its shows online, the people said. Turner won’t be part of the debut of HBO NOW, said one of the people.
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