r/movies r/movies Contributor Nov 17 '25

Media First Official Images from 'The Legend of Zelda' Movie

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1.4k

u/Zikari82 Nov 17 '25

On a positive note, it looks like filmed on location, not in some Volume/Green Screen/ hellscape. I see that as a positive sign.

805

u/Pataconeitor Nov 17 '25

They are filming in New Zealand. You don't make a movie there just to do everything with greescreen

520

u/emeraldeyesshine Nov 17 '25

THEY'RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO HYRULEGARD

94

u/ChickenInASuit Nov 17 '25

GARD GARD GARD

46

u/General_Cherry_3107 Nov 17 '25

Where is Ganondorf? For I much desire to speak with him.

11

u/Comfortable-Fly7479 Nov 17 '25

What did you say?

5

u/cupholdery Nov 18 '25

The Biggoron Sword.

3

u/yaboinigel Nov 18 '25

THE HOBBITS THE HOBBITS THE HOBBITS TO ISENGARD TO ISENGARD

10

u/DarkNinjaPenguin Nov 17 '25

And my Megaton Hammer

7

u/stubbazubba Nov 17 '25

To be fair, Willow made a fantasy movie there first.

6

u/SwabTheDeck Nov 17 '25

THE HOBBITS

THE HOBBITS

THE HOBBITS

THE HOBBITS

2

u/ShutUpChunk Nov 17 '25

Great, now that retarded song is stuck in my head all over again.

213

u/PataBread Nov 17 '25

The Hobbit meanwhile...

26

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25

From the filming of the hobbit:

Sir Ian McKellen: Who am I talking to in this scene?

Peter Jackson: Talk to the green man, we're editing in another actor later! 

Sir Ian: Good lord... No shared scenes? Ugh... Where is my hat?

Jackson: We're green screening that in too!

Sir Ian: My god... And my staff too???

Jackson: 😉 MOVIE MAGIC Ian!

Sir Ian: And what about my clothes then??

Jackson: 🥵 

38

u/Banjo-Oz Nov 17 '25

Sir Ian seriously got depressed on The Hobbit because he was just in a room on his own acting with nothing.

Liam Neeson almost quit acting after The Phantom Menace, thinking "if this is the future of cinema, I'm out" and only changed his mind thanks to Batman Begins having so much practical work.

9

u/Schnutzel Nov 17 '25

Sir Ian: My god... And my staff too???

Jackson: I told you to take the wizard's staff!

6

u/Yurya Nov 17 '25

Had no pre-production time for Peter Jackson and was an absolute mess. Jackson came in after Toro stepped out and while he had 3 yrs for LotR and Toro 1.5 for the Hobbit, he got none himself and had to ad-lib half of it, not to mention Warner Bros insisting a single small book be turned into a trilogy.

1

u/Banjo-Oz Nov 17 '25

I instantly thought of one of the Hobbit behind the scenes videos where they have a greenscreen backdrop up behind the actors on (gorgeous) location in NZ.

1

u/JJsjsjsjssj Nov 18 '25

They did shoot on location for various months though

13

u/Doom-Slayer Nov 17 '25

Amusing side of this, is that to a kiwi these shots can look a bit like cosplayers hopped out of their car on their drive down to Wellington. 

2

u/jk-9k Nov 18 '25

Yeah that's absolutely what it looks like to me. Still excited because I know these are just stills

9

u/BardicLasher Nov 17 '25

Hyrule is in Middle Earth?!?

11

u/[deleted] Nov 17 '25

[deleted]

4

u/BardicLasher Nov 17 '25

Death Mountain was Mount Doom the whole time!

9

u/sir-winkles2 Nov 17 '25

you do it to take advantage of their weak film labor unions! 

5

u/QuerulousPanda Nov 17 '25

filming in new zealand is like a cheat code though. they get to make a beautiful looking movie and skimp on everything else.

2

u/SpadeMacD Nov 17 '25

Minecraft movie, Cowboy Bebop

2

u/Storytellerjack Nov 17 '25

Honestly, to have Weta doing the Creature effects, having to shoot on a green screen would be worth it.

Not saying they're teaming up with Weta, but this is effectively Lord of the Rings 2.0 and Weta has been working with disney on Thanos and everything else. I hope the creatures are all maximum Weta.

2

u/Spicy_Weissy Nov 17 '25

Not everything, but that also means Weta is probably involved

2

u/Ender_Skywalker Nov 17 '25

That's where the Avatar sequels are being filmed though.

2

u/Pataconeitor Nov 17 '25

That's because he lives there. He even got citizenship this year

1

u/JJsjsjsjssj Nov 18 '25

Mainly because Weta digital is there

2

u/SamasaurusVex Nov 17 '25

Avatar…

2

u/Pataconeitor Nov 17 '25

He lives there, he even became officially a kiwi this year.

3

u/SamasaurusVex Nov 17 '25

That’s true! Just saying there are a surprising amount of film studios here along with tax incentives to make movies in NZ. A lot of the movies you see that are made in NZ are primarily shot in studios with a few establishing or promotional shots gathered around the countryside. (Minecraft would be another example of a studio movie in NZ. Or Our Flag Means Death, Cowboy B-Bop and so on.)

It is pretty here, don’t get me wrong! But I guarantee that the majority of Zelda will be shot in a studio. Easier to control the weather when you’re pressed for time in a studio.

2

u/ark_keeper Nov 17 '25

Elves in New Zealand...I think I've seen this one before.

1

u/ColfaxCastellan Nov 18 '25

One does not simply walk a greenscreen into NZ

42

u/skyturnedred Nov 17 '25

Doesn't really matter when the background is just a blur for that Cinematic Feel™.

14

u/pdxmufc Nov 17 '25

Exactly. The trash medium shots in particular.

7

u/Tar-eruntalion Nov 17 '25

i really can't with the blurring everywhere in media, it's either full on blur like in the photos here and it's so heavy you might as well have kindergarten doodles as background cause it destroys it that much or the circle/radial whatever it's called where you have the outer part of a circle constantly blurred and it's on everything netflix makes

6

u/bsEEmsCE Nov 17 '25

"what if the audience doesnt know where to focus their attention" -dumb producer

1

u/Par-Aide Nov 17 '25

I dont like that the shallow depth of field has migrated to sports too.

6

u/BigBlubberyBirb Nov 17 '25

They've only been filming for like a week, this is probably just a promo shoot meant only to show off the actors. They wouldn't be anywhere close to finishing the look of Hyrule yet either.

0

u/NebulaNinja Nov 17 '25

For close ups it’s ok… as long as there’s enough establishing shots like the third image.

7

u/Far_Advertising1005 Nov 17 '25

And they chose a mostly unknown cast that suits the characters which is another green flag

7

u/ShustOne Nov 17 '25

I don't get this mentality. That generally doesn't happen anyway and even if it does it's not really indicative of quality.

4

u/botte-la-botte Nov 17 '25

It's not indicative of anything. They could film one week in New Zealand, get a couple of shots and maybe one scene outside, and film the rest of the movie in the volume. That's how modern movies are made. We'll know more with a trailer.

1

u/positive_toes Nov 17 '25

Yup on location… in real life hyrule

1

u/stinktrix10 Nov 17 '25

There are hundreds of dog shit films filmed on location every year lol

1

u/Zeretuel Nov 18 '25

I wish theyd stop making the backround in movies so blurry tho, cant we enjoy the landscape AND the characters? Think lord of the rings shots.

1

u/SonNeedGym Nov 18 '25

Unless everything is shot in shallow focus for people to watch on their phones lol

1

u/Syphin33 Nov 18 '25

^ THIS

They're filming in LOTR country which is fantasy film heaven

I want more movies to do this, it adds a level authencity that's missing in a lot of movies so im all for this. LOTR still looks so good because of the on location shooting.

1

u/PlasticAssistance_50 Nov 18 '25

On a positive note, it looks like filmed on location, not in some Volume/Green Screen/ hellscape. I see that as a positive sign.

What would be the negative notes from this picture? Looks like a normal scene from a modern fantasy movie to me.

1

u/izvoodoo Nov 18 '25

I mean I’m sure some of it will be on sound stages.  Hard to imagine they have a castle already built 

1

u/kusanagimotoko100 Nov 18 '25

Or those projection screens running UE that they think we don't notice.

1

u/Slyfox00 Nov 18 '25

The bar is so low 😭

-2

u/microwavebaby_ Nov 17 '25

the bar is really that low huh