The rumored Legend of Zelda show on Netflix makes sense for today’s Nintendo

A Wall Street Journal rumor claims that Nintendo is working with Netflix on a live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. If that report pans out, it is something that fits into the strategy that Nintendo and president Satoru Iwata have laid out for the company over the last year.

A Zelda show on Netflix would represent the first time that Nintendo has made a deal to adapt one of its games for a prime time-style audience. The company has previously worked with Hollywood on a disastrous Super Mario Bros. film in 1992. It also developed several cartoons and a show that starred a professional wrestler as Mario. But that was for Saturday mornings — Netflix is quite different. At the same time, a Zelda show is not something that the House of Mario would have even discussed a few years ago. But today’s Nintendo is actively planning to use its characters in new ways to generate profit.