Nintendo is planning to ride the incredible box office success of its Super Mario Bros movie by launching a film based on The Legend Of Zelda, which is currently re-energising interest in the Switch console.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently the highest-grossing film of 2023, having grossed close to A$2 billion worldwide to date, as well as launching with the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film in history.

While news of the Zelda film hasn’t been confirmed by Nintendo, film reporter, Jeff Sneider told the Hot Mic podcast a “great source” told him the deal is close to completion.

“From what I’m told, getting close to official, I’m told that Universal is in fact closing a quote ‘big deal’ with the Nintendo Corporation for the Legend of Zelda,” Sneider claims.

“Zelda will be, is looking like the next big Illumination-Nintendo franchise – which again, I think we were all sort of expecting – but I’m told that that is happening and it’s costing Universal a pretty penny because of the success of Super Mario, Nintendo kind of knows its worth at this point, but yeah, I’m told that that is now going to be a reality.”

Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry forecasts that over the next few years, the video game market is expected to see average annual growth of 6 per cent, compared to movies and anime, which are projected to increase at 29 per cent.

With this in mind, it makes sense for the Japanese gaming giant to continue its lucrative cinematic play.