Nintendo Shuts Down Live-Action Zelda Fan Film, 'Lost In Hyrule'

Yeah, I guarantee Nintendo will shut this down once they get wind of it, if they haven’t already. I mean, they did allow a fan film that adapted Ocarina of Time called “The Hero of Time” to be up on YouTube for a brief time, but even that was taken down.

We’ll just have to wait for the official film to come out, it seems, in order for us Zelda fans to see Hyrule, Link, Zelda, and Ganon in all their live-action glory.

Hmm... I wonder if Hylian Crest and the tri force symbols are trademarked?

Open that ruppee wallet alright………. for the lawyer fees when nintendo come in and sue their ass into oblivion

Do they really think they can monetize on a Nintendo IP without permission? They are literally asking to be sued and I don't defend them at all.

The first Nintendo fan project to get a cease and desist from Sony

This is just blatant IP theft

At this point I have assume they want to get shut down for the publicity because I refuse to believe anyone who has put that much effort in has somehow missed how protctive Nintendo is of its content.

Coming soon to a crowd funding site: their completely original "spiritual successor" movie that they can fully monetise.

This isn't going to last long. You might as well change this just enough to not get in trouble, but still leave it clear that the film is an homage to The Legend of Zelda.

Also, sorry, I wasn't too impressed with trailer.

Attempting to monetise a fan-made Zelda film without the IP rights at a time a litigiously rampant Nintendo is actively developing their own live-action Zelda motion picture is such a fundamentally bone-headed idea.

Are they not aware of how Nintendo feels about this kind of thing? This is a poorly thought out endeavor.

Nintendo Lawyer Ninjas Dispatched

And that video looks terrible

@Dee123 The Triforce itself is a rip off of the Japanese Hojo Clan, so they can't trademark it

Great way to get free money and get shutdown by nintendo. And no refunds because we already paid our staff and bought filming equipment and costumes.

@Bunkerneath I didn't know that. Thanks.

Hmm...I feel bad for saying this, but this just doesn't look right for a live action film. I know fans get upset when something isn't a 1:1 copy, but there's a good reason for this. Not everything that works in one medium translates well into another.

The costumes, the setting, everything looks static and fake. It feels like a cosplay event with a script. It's too clean looking I suppose. Whatever the live action film may be, I hope it's not one with the green hat. I know it's a staple, but I think Link's new outfit suits him better than the old.

I give this teaser a 2/10.

I felt embarrassed for everyone involved, watching that.

The level of cringe in that was unbearable. Nintendo will almost certainly strike this down.

Well there goes my new year's resolution of only saying something if you have something nice to say...

Jokes aside, clearly they failed to convince their Dad to dress up as Ganon.

Wait, I said jokes aside... Nice horse!

Oh dear. Seeing this makes me fear for the actual Zelda live action film. Hopefully, it's more like the recent DnD film and less like a fan-made fever dream.

I’m pretty sure the makers are reading these comments. That’s what you do when your Zelda video gets featured on NintendoLife.
So I want to tell them: don’t let needlessly cruel comments get to you. But let’s face it, this isn’t ready yet.
There’s certainly a lot of passion, which is probably the most important factor when making something great. But I really think that should be backed up by some more technical skills and knowledge about shot types and camera movements, and why you use them. Some people can learn this without film school, so you’ll have to find your best route. But try to make some more films before trying to handle that kind of money. And for your own good, take this offline asap and create original content!
Best of luck!

A link to the cringe

Ah, so this is what the SuperSega guys pivoted to.

Please nintendo make the attention seeker go away!

So you invest it gets shut down and your money is gone?
What happens to kickstarters money when they don’t reach the goal?

I don't know what's more stupid, asking people for money to make a movie of an IP you do not have the rights for and market that. Or the people who give them money for a fan movie.

Ugh...

Look... the trailer is impressive enough. It won't win an oscar, but passion projects are passion projects.

That said, come on people. Make a movie, have it be greatly inspired by Zelda, acknowledge the inspiration as such, but come up with your own characters. It's not rocket science.

Nintendo doesn't own the basic plot beats of any of the Zelda games. They are all more or less standard fantasy stories. You can easily recreate one of the Zelda stories with different characters.

Call your hero by a different name starting with an L. Give him a cool looking shield with a cool looking crest on it. Give him a green outfit. Just don't make him Link with the Hylian shield and the very distinct green outfit.

Such a shame.

I am willing to bet that they would actually make more money in a fundraiser if they had stated they wanted to make an original thing, just heavily based on their love for the Zelda franchise.

Nintendo will shut this down. I don’t get making a kickstarter for an ip you don’t own and without the company’s permission.

@PinderSchloss well you've made me feel bad and sad now...

But I stand by my comment. That really IS a nice horse!

When you start asking people money, you have to make sure what you’re doing is legal. This clearly isn’t.

Does $30k even touch the sides when it comes to making a film?

Also, having just watched the trailer, my suspicions are correct. A live action Zelda film, with Link and Zelda dressed as they appear in the games, looks utterly ridiculous. I do wonder how Nintendo/Sony will handle this in the real film.

This video is brought to you by the letter's C and D... as in Cease and Desist

Just to chime in on some relevant legal realities. What's going to happen is pure speculation, so speculate away! I just hope I can frame that speculation in fact.

The film will be subject to the copyright and IP law of the country the film is being made in, even though the IP and movie rights are both owned by a Japanese company. That's good news for the movie, because it looks like it's being made in the US, where they can argue "fair use". Japan offers no such exclusion.

It's a double edge sword though. Nintendo (A Japanese game publisher and developer) generally turns a blind eye to things like this IN JAPAN, because Japan has no enforcement clause in copyright or IP law. In the US, you can lose the right to enforcement if you knowingly allow infringing works to be made. That's why Nintendo of America (a US company that handles Nintendo's distribution as well as legal issues in the US) sues the crap out of anyone for any reason. In Japan, you can allow cool things like this to happen and focus on shutting down things that might tarnish your brand, but in the US you can't. You have to go after everyone as soon as there is reasonable exposure.

Fan films are not unheard of. It's possible they might be able to make this, but the timing is bad. It's a petty reasonable argument that it's being made now to knowingly take advantage of the hype around "a Zelda movie", and from there to argue brand confusion. My prediction is this gets shut down, but anything could happen.

God forbid people invest time and money on the original ideas. Instead, let's make a movie based around an IP we don't own and try later how a big bad corporation shuts us down.
Don't get me wrong, I am all for fan made stuff, but once money is involved, that's where it gets tricky.
And yes, I know if they made something original it wouldn't get as much publicity. It is not fair, but that's how it is. Nothing is popular until it become popular.
On top of all that, Nintendo is making their own Zelda movie.
I will be surprised if they let this one slide.

Nintendo hire this man

So could they just rob everyone of the funds and then pretend Nintendo stopped the project?

I know there’s Friday the 13th fan films but I feel like they aren’t allowed to make money on them to exist.

@JohnnyMind I don't think anyone here is wishing them ill. Everyone here would love to see it succeed.

Just not as an actual Zelda movie.

If they made something heavily inspired by Zelda but still its own thing, everyone here would either think it's cool, or pay it no mind and get on with their day.

They can easily make a movie about a young boy in a green tunic waking up one night from a dream where a princess tells him she needs rescue. This young boy in a green tunic can go up to the castle, hide from the guards, find a way inside and help the princess escape. He may even find a cool looking shield with a cool looking crest on it...

You get the point. It's basically Zelda III, except generic. Which, let's face it, Zelda's storylines are in large generic fantasy, several very specific elements notwithstanding. I mean, we can argue that Navi is to Link what Tinkerbell is to Peter Pan.

So call your character Leoric, having to rescue Princess Zinnesia from the clutches of the evil Gunvad, and you are all set. Make sure people know that your work is heavily inspired by the Zelda franchise, and people will know that your movie will be derivative, because that is your intention.

Honestly though, Leoric, Zinnesia, Gunvad... I am already feeling it. I am getting excited!

A lot of nothing to even get excited about in that trailer anyway. Y’know, that is if it wasn’t taken down, which it very much will be.
When will people learn not to use IP in such a blatantly obvious way 😪

@JohnnyMind can you try and saying something critical or even negative for a change? 😂 If there was ever a reason to do so, it’s this unauthorised use of Nintendo property. Just once. Pleaaaseee 🥺

I cannot unsee this. Anyone got a Time Machine?

Likely better than the official movie they're making

Nintendo want to do a extreme ***** adaptation of this on their own. With Jack black as ganondorf, how dare you take that away?

@JohnnyMind people who don’t learn from their mistakes, or learn from others’ very obvious and widely-publicised mistakes, need to be held accountable.
Nintendo will absolutely go after this if it gets enough traction and everyone knows they will. They are the most consistent and notorious protectors of their IP in the industry, so I don’t have any sympathy for the creators now and I won’t in the future either. It’s also a good thing that the trailer was mince because we won’t be missing anything.

@SalvorHardin No, don't! 😄

How is there any way they won’t get sued? You can’t even utter Mario’s name while taking a crap without Nintendo’s lawyers squinting at you.

Lawsuit in...3...2...1

Eh, they do know there's a official movie on the way?

...and... it is gone!

Hmm, it's apparently "not for profit". I would assume that makes a difference?

Who is going to back this? Really? Also strange that kickstarter allowed this to be started at all.

@Apebitmusic It's a kickstarter campaign, they make money off of it. No, this is 100% for profit.

And even if not, it doesn't change a thing. IP theft = IP theft.

uhhh, yeeeeeah. But, let's put the IP issue a side for just one moment. Even thought it'll kill the project in a heartbeat.

i can't get behind the visuals. Yes, this is low budget stuff, not studio level budget. I get that. But, it's just too clean. Nothing looks lived in. It's an issue very common to fantasy movies. It's hard to make things looked lived in and keep continuity when things need to show wear or age. It's one thing that Peter Jackson did so well, but doesn't get much credit for. His whole world felt lived in - which is why they planted real stuff in their Hobbiton set and let it grow for a year; as an example. "Throw some dirt on it!" Can't be afraid to get the costumes roughed up a bit. Add to the realism.

BUT, it's all moot as this is going to be lawyer bashed by the end of the week for sure.

Nah this has to be intentional, for publicity or something, I refuse to believe the creators are that stupid to not realise this would get shut down before it even gets started.

I genuinely feel like anyone making anything related to Nintendo in an attempt to turn profits, without a right to the IP, actually needs to go get their mental health evaluated before making any decisions. I feel like people doing that have self destructive tendancies.

At this point you actually have to be genuinely diagnosed with low IQ if you attempt to make a fan made Nintendo project without permission.

Fundraising for an IP infringement. They might actually be geniuses. They collect money, then say "thanks, but Nintendo is against it. And we're keeping the money since Kickstarter was made for scammers and we don't owe you anything."

@Beetlebum91 Tears of the Fandom

@Xenoblade-Fan hahaha nice one. I didn't watch the trailer until hours after I commented and damn it was bad. I have no idea how the real live action zelda could be any good.

@JohnnyMind Should fan creations cease to exist? No, of course not. If my daughter makes a drawing of Super Mario, that is fine. Any employee at Nintendo would probably love it, too.

Should modders practice their craft on games? Sure. Mod away. Especially if the skills you learn can then be applied to a game like Kero Quest 64, as you rightfully point out. And if you have an inner circle of people who appreciate your work, and you appreciate theirs, and you learn from one another, all the more power to you.

Just don't go asking people for money to fund a project like this. There's a big difference here. This would be the same as the creators of Kero Quest 64 instead make a game called Super Mario Quest 64. It's not its own thing, and would not be judged on its own merits, instead be compared to Mario, and that would not be in its favor.

Maybe you misread my previous post. I am not saying they can't show their love of an IP. There are IPs that I love, that if I would have felt so inclined to create a videogame, I would take it as very liberal inspiration. I still wouldn't call it by the original IPs name, nor would I even WANT to recreate the story set out in the original IP.

I would take the original story, the original characters, and create something new inspired by them. I would definitely tell people what IP inspired me, and they would probably see it too, but it wouldn't BE the IP. Because that already exists, and also it has already been done better than I could anyways.

Again, I would love to see a movie like this succeed, just not a Zelda fan movie. I would want to see an inspired by Zelda fan movie about some other fantasy fairy tale land.

I am willing to bet most people here actually feel the same. They're just more vocal in being tired of yet another project pretty much asking to be decapitated.

@JohnnyMind Look, I understand that Sega has been positive about certain mod work, and Capcom licensing hand drawn art to make it official. I get that. It exists.

Sega and Capcom are very different companies though. In our minds they may be just as big as Nintendo when it comes to quality games, but look up the net worth of Nintendo, Capcom and Sega. It's a different league.

They can probably afford the luxury of getting fans involved in their work. Nintendo simply does not have that luxury. Not defending any legal actions they pulled here either. I am also not dismissing them, mind you. It's just not a comparable situation.

And of COURSE they took down AM2R if they were just about to release their own remake. They make those games to make money. They won't make any if people can just download it for free. That is a really simple matter of loss of income, which they are completely in their right to protect against.

And I am not going to look it up, but do you know for a fact Nintendo never did anything with fan creations? I could make a slightly bad faith argument that Mario Maker embraces fan creativity in the same manner.

Not saying Nintendo are good guys here, mind you. I would much rather they were more like Capcom and Sega in this way. But they're not, and they have no obligation to be either.

But even if they did allow a movie like this one, I wouldn't choose it over the actual planned Hollywood movie. I would choose it over the actual Zelda movie if they made something derivative, clearly inspired by, but its own thing.

It would have been way better if these people just auditioned to be an extra in the movie.

@JohnnyMind I would reason it kind of is the same. Brace Yourself were (are) fans of Nintendo, they had a cool idea, they created said idea.

The difference is probably they contacted Nintendo about it and probably came up with a good plan. Also, while they use characters from Zelda, it's still pretty much an original thing. It's not very derived from previous Zelda games.

I am 100% certain the people of this fan movie have not, in fact, contacted Nintendo about it, and let's be honest, creating this after the news that an actual Zelda movie is coming is not the smartest thing to do.

That said, I do agree with you, Nintendo could be more open to collaborative efforst with fans. But the key word here is collaborative.

It's monetized. Nintendo won't allow this.

Also, Zelda's wearing too much makeup.

@JohnnyMind i agree that N should be more collaborative. But for one-offs like these perhaps there is a risk that if you let one slide (even if tasteful) then that opens the door for tons more (that could be unsavory / inappropriate). I don't have hard thoughts and not arguing, kinda thinking out loud

Genuinly dont see the point in this. Nintendo hates his fan base and shuts down any remote hint of their IP being used

It's like literally 0 people read the description. It's a not-for-profit project. If they're not making money off it, what's the issue?

Here for the cancellation:

Unfortunately, the creators were in a no-win situation. I’m sure Nintendo wouldn’t have cared so much if they had decided to make it for free, but given that film production is expensive, even for small productions like this one, it’s no surprise that they needed funding. But predictably, that’s when Nintendo would swoop in and pull the plug. I wish the filmmakers the best in their future projects.

They knew this would happen. Collecting any money while using a popular brand you don't own guarantees legal attention. It's just a cheap cloying way to draw sympathy from people. Make a project Nintendo will absolutely shut down and rake in the attention from everyone who is perpetually chomping to dunk on the big bad company. Fun game: anytime an article like this is posted, do a search for Sonic Mania in the comments.

@JohnnyMind pointing at Sega and Capcom to make your point about Nintendo not allowing fan projects is kinda of immature.

We're talking about different businesses and different strikes for different folkes.

If you don't like it, then build your own business and do it differently, you can't point at Nintendo with tears in your eyes and get mad at them for not doing what you want them to do.

I agree that fan projects should be allowed but I also know that it's more important for Nintendo to maintain a strict control over their IPs than any other business, for quality control because for Nintendo specifically, their IPs are the reason they exist as a business.

If fan projects can effect that, then it's understandable they wouldn't allow it.

Companies like Marvel and Paramount allow stuff like this all the time and it doesn't hurt them, Nintendo's just wildly against its own fans like it always is.

If I'm being completely honest... obviously this was going to happen?

Nintendo's biggest targets are things that are similar to their products, and things that involve earning money in some way. This is a live action Zelda movie being funded through Kickstarter. Come on.

I have no idea what they were thinking. We all knew Nintendo was going to come after them. Especially when they were blatantly getting money for this. Once money was involved, you're out!

I am sorry, but once you start taking money this is inevitable. You start to work with something you don't own.

Even if they claimed it's not making a profit or something.. Nintendo have no way of knowing and verifying, they don't have the time and they're not obliged to go through someone's calculation for some project they didn't ask for and that doesn't answer to them and their own quality control. I'd shut it down too if I was in charge.

Given these filmmakers are essentially parasites, this is a decent outcome.

What did he expect? I think it's ridiculous that people are trying to be stubborn when Nintendo's attitude and opinion on such issues are obvious.

Hmmmmmmm I wonder if news reports like this one is what helped Nintendo catch wind of this project. 🤔

Starting something they knew Nintendo would shutdown felt off already.

I think we'll see more of this and then once the inevitable happens, play the sympathy card, call Nintendo out.

Other ways to skin a cat.

Well they were asking alot if money. Even if the filmmaker himself isn't earning a lot with it someone is. So therefore these kind of projects will be shut down

They could always try to bend the project and still make what they wanted but without the Zelda characters and world used in it.

@JohnnyMind If big and old Nintendo IPs keep going strong to this day it's because of how they take care of them, so keep going nintendo, also that's why other franchises like sonic become a joke.

So stupid move! It was obvious from the beginning that this would happen! It was just a matter of days.. They were wasting their time... I had written it in a comment in their youtube video

Yeah.. we all knew this was going to happen. And honestly I am 100% okay with Nintendo stopping this.

No surprise, I don't know why people can't understand that nintendo is protective of its IP as its basically the thing their business is entirely based on sure its the thing that kept the Switch selling.

If you can get Mario, Zelda, Pokemon and few others elsewhere nintendo goes under. So they are never going let anything potentially slide just in case it has a dominio effect of weakening their protection.

They knew it would be shut down. It's just a publicity stunt to get their name 'out there' as film makers.

They were asking for people’s money? Jesus Hammer Throwing Christ.

That cutesy “Hey y’all!” in their statement brings my piss to a boil too.

@Jack_Goetz but it wasnt even a good pitch

Well, the Kickstarter is shut down, but still release the film or at least everything you have of it.

Also, consider this: It's possible for people to spend their own money to make something like this and not break any laws, so long as they don't then sell it for profit. People spend their own money on random fan projects they make for fun all the time. Like, if you were a kid and asked your parents to give you a few hundred quid so you could buy some costumes and props and a cheap camera for a movie you wanted to make and film in your garden just for fun, Nintendo would have literally no say or control over that at all under the law. They can't stop you filming yourself running around in a Link costume that you bought in a costume shop for Halloween and posting your family footage on YouTube or wherever. So, isn't there some way to get just a whole lot more people to use their money to help make this without it being any different from the producers and directors using their own money right now in the same way. The only question is how do you get them to help on the project and use their own money in the same way you did as part of that, like "buy me a coffee" or "donate me a prop" or "can you spare me a few quid to buy this cool Zelda prop I saw in a shop that I liked, old pal". Just something to think about.

What. a. surprise.

No! It is not a shame!
They were taking money for something that isn't theirs!

"with almost $24,000 pledged of the project's $30,000 target, it's a shame to see it bite the dust, nonetheless"

What happened to the good old days of real fam films?
You find people with equipment, you find people with passion, you make it for free, you release it before you tell anyone about it!

Look at all those Star wars fan films decades ago!

I'm not familiar with how the transactions go with kickstarter, but what happens to the money people put in this project?

What absolute suckers pledged $24,000 in the first place? 🫨

I know it's easy to get into the "big guy vs little guy" mentality, but I support this, and I think most people probably do to when they give it some thought.

I own an IP, and I wouldn't want some random person sharing stories about the world and people I've created in an environment where I was completely removed from creative control (nor do I have time to take creative control of any project like that).

Art always deals in themes. It always has a message, even if that message isn't front and center. More importantly, once art is out in the world, it's the viewer who owns it, and people often take messages that the artist didn't even think were there. What if the artiest includes or if people decide that this film deals with themes that are contraveral or flat out inexcusable, and that gets associated with Nintendo's brand? We can't expect Nintendo to take that kind of risk, and we can't expect them to spend time and money monitoring every fan project.

It would be nice if we lived in a world where people aren't so divided and don't hate each other to the point where literally any statement or theme is going to piss off some large group. I mean, a good deal of the time I DO live in that world, Japan, and Nintendo rarely shuts down fan projects over there. But in the English speaking world, where Link being pro science or anti-fascist makes him a political target ... you just can't risk it. You have to go scorched earth.

That's not even counting the fact that in the US, if you don't enforce your IP by suing everyone as soon as their infringement gains public awareness, you can loss the legal right to enforce your IP at all, for ever.

Nintendo didn't have a choice, where the guy making this film has the choice not to make it about Zelda, and not to try and release it while Nintendo is hyping a Zelda film. The fact that he's not even trying to argue "fair use", a legal defense that has allowed for fan films in the past, tells me he understands that the timing of the release is so suspect that no court is going to buy the argument that he isn't motivated, at least in part, by the millions Nintendo is dumping into promoting a film right now. He's also looking for the exact maximum amount of money you can get before SAG calls your film professional ... a much higher budget the most student or fan films, which is also pretty suspect.

@Setery you just blindly trust these people you don't know that every single dollar of the THIRTY THOUSAND they were asking for was going to be used in a way wholly for the production and not in any other possible way, ever? And also Nintendo should just assume the same and cross their fingers?

That took longer than expected

Considering how Nintendo has approached even free high profile fan projects in the past and with the official live-action Zelda movie currently in production, this project's days were numbered the moment it was announced.

I love how Nintendo's legal team will sue a teenager into oblivion, shut down something beautiful and creative that a fan made, and meanwhile over on the eShop, there are 200+ shovelware AI garbage games clogging up the new releases page every damn week.

I missed the word “Fan” the first time I read the updated title and thought Nintendo was cancelling their own live-action Zelda film.

I wouldn't have stopped. Nintendo tries to shut down a fan film I'm making? I pretend to comply while working on it in secret

IP law is BS, and we're moving (albeit glacially) towards more awareness of that fact.

You probably already had this article written to save yourself some time

@Zeebor15 yeah I expecting like day 1 shutdown.

@PinderSchloss it is skill, not "passion" that will make something great. Raygun the b-girl was very passionate about breaking.

@sonicbooming obviously you don't understand how trademark law works. if you don't defend your trademark, you lose it.

@Dr_Awkward You need both, of course. That’s why I said they need to refine their skills.

@Yosher Or, you know, posting a highly public Kickstarter campaign asking for $30,000. That might draw some notice in and of itself, just maybe possibly.

@sonicbooming These things are not even close to similar. What would Nintendo sue those companies for, exactly? They're uploading their own product, lacking-in-quality as it is, to their shop through regular practices and Nintendo gets their cut as per usual. These fools were asking for a ridiculous amount of money to make a movie with Nintendo's own characters. Two things can happen at the same time.

@Dr_Awkward @sonicbooming

Just to clarify this statement to make it accurate:

If you do not defend your COPYRIGHT or IP RIGHTS in the US, you can be counter sued when you do try to enforce it, and if the party counter suing you manages to make a case for "selective enforcement", you will lose the ability to enforce the copyright in the US. It's not automatic, and selective enforcement is very hard to prove. While it's still a risk and justifies enforcement action like this, selective enforcement has only worked as a defense a handful of times.

I encourage you to be a little more gentle when trying to inform people. We only know what we know, and people are likely to just ignore you if you are rude to them. At the same time, as you've just seen, it's easier then you might think to have incomplete information about something,.

@canaryfarmer Of course, that didn't help matters either. But I do wonder if it would or could have survived, had news sites like this not reported on it.

Hypothetically - if a similar KS was made for a Zelda movie in a more ultra-violent (but tasteful) way, like game of thrones or something, would it still be a problem for people if N took action? I mean like nudity and very violent, etc, in the world of Zelda but not necessarily how Nintendo has presented their games.

The reason I ask is because I believe if Ninty says yes to one of these projects (kid-friendly or not) maybe it just opens up further headaches for N and others who try it down the line and are rejected. It's not like Nintendo is partnering with these folks so in an effort to avoid any type of dialogue, they just shut anything down. Just thoughts, idk this stuff in detail

@Yosher Not a chance, it was still too public just by, well, existing. It's not news sites' jobs to protect Kickstarters from things they're doing wrong. They put themselves out there to get shut down, quite brazenly, with no effort from NL or anyone else.

@1UP-HUSKY What happens to the money put in? Nothing. The minimum wasn't reached so the money people pledged, wasn't sent over to them yet.

You can pledge money but if the target isn't reached, nothing happens.

Asking for a friend …….
What happens with the money raised when it’s cancelled?
What happens when you launch a Kickstarter and it fails to meet its goal?

@Lord Nothing happens. From what I believe, the money you put in doesn't go straight to them right away. They wouldn't have gotten the money until the kick-start reached its main goal. So, if they failed, they wouldn't get anything in the first place. Anyone can correct me if I got anything wrong.

@Lord The money isn't collected until the end of the campaign. If the campaign is cancelled, as in this case, it does not proceed to the pledge collection phase, and no money changes hands.

As dumb as Nintendo is to take it down the filmmakers really should’ve figured “hey, if we ask for money then won’t Nintendo kill our project?”

You’ll never see me defending Nintendo with these decisions (especially since other fan films have been crowdfunded and released for free with no ad revenue), but the creators really should’ve known better.

@HeadPirate Wait you own an IP?

@Greatluigi

Sounds cool doesn't it?

But ... not so much. I wrote a LARP and a rules system for it. Given the LARP community is pretty small and mine was very well regarded, someone tried to effectively run a competing LARP in the world I created, so I got a copyright and sent a C&D. It's not like I own some huge money making property or something.

Did anyone think otherwise? Own Zelda movie was in horizon AND was something that involved $$$. No shot.

I totally get being a huge fan of Nintendo's IP and wanting to create something within their universe. As a kid, I of course dreamed up scenarios for Link to battle through, or Mario to conquer. But as a grown up, understanding more about IP and the rights that protect them, I just don't get why you'd pour time, energy, and money into something you know has a huge chance of being shut down. Like, why not create something that is a nod to the the things you love, rather than blatantly using others IP?

@Zeebor15 Nintendo did the C and D not Sony

Nintendo owns the ip rights

Pretty short sighted to do this knowing Nintendo’s live action is around the corner

@Spider-Kev nowadays if you try to find people for free people will say it’s exploitation and you have to pay the crew and stuff

@PokeMadness1996 @Spider-Kev

Exploration is a real thing, and it was a very bad problem in film making. You might have noticed that rich film barons are often not too great people (Harvey Weinstein, for example) and it used to be commonplace to force young actors, especially young female actors, into working for free for "exposure", often in "skin films".

Thankfully, SAG put an end to that. If your film has over a $35,000, you have to pay your staff. If it's under $35,000, you can get people to work for free. (There are special rules for films between $35,000 and $50,000, but it's complicated)

Obviously that doesn't apply to a fan film like this unless they wanted to use SAG resources, but most serious film makers follow this rule because if you don't and try to join SAG or hire SAG members at some point, it can be a problem.

Also this happens in 1933. So hardly "nowadays".

That's likely is why the people making this film were asking strangers to give them $30,000 and not more, so they had the option of not paying people working on their crowd funded project.

Someone else who thought the outcome was going to be any different with a Nintendo ninjas roaming around.

@HeadPirate I wasn’t defending exploitation I was just explaining to that user why people don’t make it for free anymore

I love nintendo but sometimes they make it hard to love them.

If you're gonna announce a fan-made anything based on a Nintendo IP, you better make sure it's already finished when you do. I don't know why people continue to think they will be the ones who will earn Nintendo's mercy when the company has never once hesitated to shut down hundreds of projects like these. It's shocking how idiotic some people can be, it's like pattern recognition is an impossibility for them.

@Anon69 That's a great way to owe money to Nintendo for the rest of your life once you get your face sued off. I wouldn't recommend it.

Welp we called it.
wow

FFVII The Web Series: "First time?"

They are using an IP they don't own without permission. I don't understand how they think it's fair to do so. Same applies to people defending them.

The minute this was even announced was the minute Nintendo was going to catch wind of it and shut it down. Seriously, when will people learn to stop doing Kickstarter campaigns for projects based on Nintendo IP? Either self-fund, or come up with something original that is inspired by a Nintendo game and fund it on Kickstarter (such as Mika and The Witch's Mountain or Godshard Chronicles, two games which I backed last year).

They doomed themselves the moment they asked for money.

Zelda shouldn't be a movie, I don't care who's making it, be it Nintendo themselves or some dude off the street. Especially it being live action, dear lord the cheese will be so ripe you'll smell it at the cinema.

"This is Nintendo’s IP and if they decide to halt our production, we will."

The rest of this article is unnecessary.

@Oracles_fanboi I have my ways. Nintendo would never know. I 100% guarantee it

What?! No way! I'm so surprised!

Legend (with Tom Cruise as Not-Link) is still the best Zelda movie

Nintendo fan project asking for money get's taken down by Nintendo.

In other news: water is wet.

@JohnnyMind the fact is that for Nintendo more than any other hardware manufacturer, need to guard their IPs closely because their IPs are what drives their hardware sales, nobody is buying Nintendo hardware to play the next Madden game or Call Of Duty, people buy Nintendo hardware for Nintendo's own software, so for Nintendo, it's more important for them to guard their IPs closely.

They have much more at stake than Sega and Capcom does, you can hate it as much as you like but it is what it is, Nintendo are different to Sony and Microsoft in that for Nintendo, nobody buys their hardware for the latest 3rd party games, for Nintendo everyone buys their hardware to play their software and if you can play their software elsewhere on better hardware, why buy Nintendo hardware?

Same for fan made projects like this, if Nintendo wants to sell tickets for you to watch their version of Zelda, having this exist alongside that is just going to take attention away from what you're doing, Nintendo doesn't need exposure from fan projects, this is Nintendo we're talking about, if their working on a film, you can bet money everyone already knows and no exposure from giddy fans stealing IPs isn't needed 😂.

@abe_hikura that hasn't stopped other people from being audacious in the past concerning various properties.

Lindsey Stirling's Zelda medley still going strong 13 years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3KUyPKbR7Q

We all knew this was gonna happen sooner or later, but what makes me sad is that fan made video games as also fan films have proven to be high quality and made with love and effort from those who love the gaming industry. This hits even harder considering that even if Miyamoto is involved in The Legend of Zelda live action movie, Avi Arad is also involved (For those who want more context, he is the guy who forced Venom in Spider-Man 3 against Sam Raimi's vision), so I feel the movie still has some chances to be successful like the Super mario movie, but we shall be cautious. I know of the IP issue (thanks Disney), but fans should be able to create content that honors the video games they grew up with.

You don't monetise on other people's IPs. That's just scummy and dumb. Take that energy and use it to create something original. Stop riding the coattails of people who have spent many hard work hours and spent a lot of money to create a world and lore that you are lazily copying.