Australian actor Uli Latukefu has landed a major role: He’ll play the lead villain Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda, Sony and Nintendo’s live-action feature film based on the popular video game, sources have confirmed to Deadline.
Ganondorf is a powerful warlock king driven to dominate protagonists Link and Princess Zelda’s kingdom of Hyrule. We hear Latukefu inked a multi-picture deal here.
As previously announced, the leads of the project are a pair of up-and-comers: Bo Bragason is playing Zelda, with Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link. Castings for the Zelda tentpole have been closely guarded — Latukefu’s is the first to emerge since Nintendo announced the film’s leads last July.
Reps for Sony couldn’t be reached for comment on Latukefu’s casting.
Sony first announced it would distribute and team with Nintendo to co-finance a Zelda movie in the fall of 2023, with the Planet of the Apes franchise’s Wes Ball coming aboard to direct, and Miyamoto and Avi Arad set to produce. T.S. Nowlin penned the most recent draft of the script. The film is slated for release in theaters on May 7, 2027.
The Legend of Zelda franchise, created by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, first debuted under Nintendo in 1986. The game follows the elf-like warrior Link and Princess Zelda as they fight to save the magical land of Hyrule from Ganon, an evil warlord-turned-demon king. Over the decades, the franchise has sold over 150 million units across various gaming consoles, one of the most famous being 1998’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Zelda has been one of the most anticipated upcoming video game adaptations for some time, following the blockbuster success of titles like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and A Minecraft Movie.
Best known for playing a young Dwayne Johnson in the sitcom Young Rock, which ran for three seasons on NBC, Latukefu has also been seen in films like Black Adam, Next Goal Wins, MaXXXine, the Prime Video series Countdown and more. He is repped by Gersh, RGM Artists, Artists First, and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.
The New York Times‘ Kyle Buchanan was first to Latukefu’s Zelda casting.