April Fools' Alert #3: Legend of Zelda movie by IGN
by Alexander Sliwinski 
{ Apr 1st 2008 at 10:30AM }
Last year we had another impressive Zelda-inspired April Fools' joke with a preview for a Legend of Zelda game set in a future/Star Wars version of Hyrule. We can't help but think IGN's trailer would have been better (and more over the top) had Link been walking down the street of some poor provincial town and people started bursting out singing like the opening of La Belle et la Bête Beauty and the Beast.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mr. Scolex @ Apr 1st 2008 10:38AM
I was just about to send this in. Props to IGN though, it looks like some work went into this.
Gokie @ Apr 1st 2008 10:37AM
As terrible as that trailer looked, I would still absolutely watch the movie if it was real. >.>
Jeff @ Apr 1st 2008 1:21PM
Dude it aint fake, And that is not the first trailer Either. THIS IS NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE. I saw the first trailer a year ago, and they just updated their website. It used to have the old trialer and a mailing list. This is a real fan made movie.
Mike @ Apr 1st 2008 2:07PM
Jeff must see pink elephants and Elvis on a daily basis.
severian00 @ Apr 1st 2008 4:23PM
Jeff, do you think it's a coincidence that it was updated a year to the day on April 1st and has a release date of April 1st 2009? Come on man.
jefffff @ Apr 1st 2008 8:58PM
I did'nt see ita it last year on april 1st. I siad a year ago cuz I do not remember the exact date. It was probably more like 2 years ago anyway. Besides you think they really went to all of that trouble. All of that CGI and location shooting just for a little joke.
Xeno Mezphy @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:21PM
...yes?
Via Rainfallfilms.com:
UPDATE FROM IGN: "April 2, 2008 - 12:01 a.m. PST. Yup, you guessed it. The Legend of Zelda trailer featured above is part of an elaborate April Fool's Day prank. Check back in later today for more details on the IGN/Rainfall Films collaboration that resulted in this "love it or hate it" piece of videogame movie history."
Jennifer @ Apr 2nd 2008 5:25PM
Here is todays update on Rainfall Films...
UPDATE FROM IGN: "April 2, 2008 - 12:01 a.m. PST. Yup, you guessed it. The Legend of Zelda trailer featured above is part of an elaborate April Fool's Day prank. Check back in later today for more details on the IGN/Rainfall Films collaboration that resulted in this "love it or hate it" piece of videogame movie history."
UPDATE FROM RAINFALL: We'd like to thank everyone who wrote in asking about the trailer! We will be responding to all of you as soon as we can, but in the meantime keep your eyes on this site for a special update later today.
goboColossus @ Apr 1st 2008 10:39AM
Props to the excellent execution, beats the pants off the presentation of that "Future" Zelda.
Unfortunately it all looks and feels like SciFi Channel Original.
Framit @ Apr 1st 2008 10:43AM
More like "The Spice Network Original". I was waiting for the sleazy saxophone and tunics coming off.
xFenixKnightx @ Apr 1st 2008 10:45AM
LOL yea I noticed that bout an hour ago, but I didnt even look into it. Too busy checking out all the GTAIV coverage.
Ben Dejo @ Apr 1st 2008 10:47AM
I was hoping for the most epic of rick rolls.
Roto13 @ Apr 1st 2008 10:47AM
They really put a lot of effort into this.
Ben @ Apr 1st 2008 10:48AM
They did a really great job on that trailer! If it weren't April Fools Day I might have been convinced that it was real.
Ian Boyle @ Apr 1st 2008 11:44AM
That trailer looked awesome even though Ganandorf looked like a bad ripoff of Hellboy. But don't forget that Nintendo announced the development of their own in-house animated movies a few years back. Whether this will ever come to fruition? You never know. Check these links out and see for yourself.
http://www.4colorrebellion.com/archives/2004/12/03/nintendo-starts-in-house-animation-studio/
http://gc.kombo.com/article.php?artid=6167
Chameleon @ Apr 1st 2008 10:49AM
chobot is kind of useless.
but by the grace of all that is holy, she is easy on the eyes ....
NvM @ Apr 1st 2008 10:56AM
That trailer did a few things right, but they mostly did things wrong.
The right was mostly decent CGI for a prank, the rest was Uwe Boll stuff.
xFenixKnightx @ Apr 1st 2008 11:02AM
Needs more Peter Jackson...
aristokrat @ Apr 1st 2008 11:03AM
That Link looks far to manly. Link doesn't have a square jaw. Link doesn't have shoulders. Come on now. How about getting one of those cosplaying cuties to play Link instead?
Saccia @ Apr 1st 2008 11:05AM
They went so far as to even register a fake website for the movie studio: http://www.rainfallfilms.com
JohnnyW @ Apr 1st 2008 11:13AM
Dude, Rainfall films are a REAL company. They're the guys whom made the trailer. You seriously don't think IGN themselves made that do you?
John @ Apr 1st 2008 11:05AM
They did a nice job. Props for IGN, they put some work into this. They even created a site www.rainfallfilms.com.
capt_carl @ Apr 1st 2008 11:07AM
I feel like such a fanboy when I say I'd go see it in a heartbeat. but seriously, get one of those cute chicks from like a month or so ago to play Link.
Nice one IGN.
Saccia @ Apr 1st 2008 11:10AM
Are you guys sure this is a joke? It's rather elaborate.
Registrant:
Domain Discreet
ATTN: rainfallfilms.com
P.O. Box 278
Yarmouth, NS B5A 4B2
CA
Email: ef58bb9a0a14115101abcadec3093ac9@domaindiscreet.com
Registrar Name....: REGISTER.COM, INC.
Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
Registrar Homepage: www.register.com
Domain Name: rainfallfilms.com
Created on..............: Sat, Feb 03, 2007
Expires on..............: Tue, Feb 03, 2009
Record last updated on..: Mon, Feb 04, 2008
Administrative Contact:
Domain Discreet
ATTN: rainfallfilms.com
P.O. Box 278
Yarmouth, NS B5A 4B2
CA
Phone: 1-902-7495331
Email: ef58bb960a14115100036aeb5160566b@domaindiscreet.com
Technical Contact:
Domain Discreet
ATTN: rainfallfilms.com
P.O. Box 278
Yarmouth, NS B5A 4B2
CA
Phone: 1-902-7495331
Email: ef58bb9b0a141151016e5ba621930ba1@domaindiscreet.com
DNS Servers:
ns2.cedant.com
ns.cedant.com
xFenixKnightx @ Apr 1st 2008 11:15AM
Calm the fudge down buddy. If you go to IMDB.com there is no such Legend of Zelda movie. If there was, especially one that looks that far along then there would be cast and director info on it there.
Zilch...
Bobby Blackwolf @ Apr 1st 2008 11:18AM
They're a real production company that IGN hired to create the spoof. If you look on their site, they mainly do SFX-laden short films on a "modest budget" (so they say.)
T @ Apr 1st 2008 1:08PM
@xFenixKnightx: Be wary of what IMDB does and doesn't have. There was a time when both Emma Watson and Kobe Bryant were slated to be on a season of Power Rangers together.
There was enough gullible people in the world that the Emma Watson rumor made it to the more prominent Harry Potter fan sites, while sites as big as Sports Illustrated were reporting the Kobe Bryant casting decision.
And just as a premetive response: No. This was not even close to April.
Slaziman @ Apr 1st 2008 11:12AM
ROFL, the battles and CGI don't look that bad. But that Ganondorf is damn cheesy.
Geist @ Apr 1st 2008 12:37PM
All I think when I see him is "Crazy Irishman! Run!"
Mr Khan @ Apr 1st 2008 3:56PM
It was actually a very faithful representation of the in-game Ganondorf, i felt. Looks horrible when played by a real person, but its very close to the in-game model
Give those chaps an A for effort, though, looked like a relatively faithful movie
Marek Hryc @ Apr 1st 2008 11:15AM
Maybe the april fools joke is that it REAL?!?!?!
...No...I can dream though, it looked pretty awesome.
Slaziman @ Apr 1st 2008 11:16AM
http://www.rainfallfilms.com/showreel/
ROFL that's pretty damn elaborate, they made some clips of other cliche plot movies, haha.
Flawless victory.
xFenixKnightx @ Apr 1st 2008 11:20AM
MK quote
+1 :)
Cell @ Apr 1st 2008 11:17AM
My favorite part of the trailer is that Link did not say one single word. Talk about faithfulness to the source material! Great April Fool's joke!
Geist @ Apr 1st 2008 12:38PM
I love that his father/guardian at the beginning said 'speak to no one.' It's like he took it to heart.
"WHY WON'T YOU SAY ANYTHING LINK?!"
*Link scribbles on a piece of paper*
-not allowed to, sorry-
fyreblazer @ Apr 1st 2008 11:19AM
That trailer was so terrible that it makes me wanna actually see this. Forget April Fools day, get the Sci-Fi channel on the phone.
Xeno Mezphy @ Apr 1st 2008 11:25AM
Damn you IGN for crushing my dreams!!!
Xeno Mezphy @ Apr 1st 2008 11:27AM
Also, this poster needs to exist... so I can buy it.
http://www.rainfallfilms.com/img_v2/zelda_poster.jpg
Kye BWii: 008 721 786 740 (fuck I hate friend codes) @ Apr 1st 2008 12:19PM
hello...
copy, paste, print shop, money, poster.
NothingShocking @ Apr 1st 2008 7:26PM
Yeah, that scheme will work. Just make sure you stay about 200ft away from the final printout and it will look just fine. :P
gamermasterman @ Apr 1st 2008 12:04PM
Amazing trailer, too bad its April Fools. IGN actually spent a lot of time and money doing that from the looks of it.
The guy that played link didn't really look like him, but everyone else was pretty good.
epsilon343 @ Apr 1st 2008 11:26AM
Got to hand it, that's probably the most elaborate and well done April Fools joke that I've seen in a long time. How long before it pops up on Youtube with people screaming about how there's a Zelda movie coming out, lol?
rockintom @ Apr 1st 2008 11:33AM
That was pretty awesome for an April fools joke. Wonder if maybe they'll do a short for the supposed release date, eh?
Jon @ Apr 1st 2008 11:36AM
Are you sure this is an April fools trailer? Part of the clip has been in the wild for a month now. It also seems to be pretty elaborate to be a prank. Regardless looks bloody awful.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=251951
Saccia @ Apr 1st 2008 11:51AM
Okay, the fact that it's been out for a month makes this NOT a good April Fools joke. Rehashing a joke clip on April Fools is just stupid.
Nigeria: Cody ChesnuTT Defense Force @ Apr 1st 2008 11:37AM
I would have cast Link as a girl.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Apr 1st 2008 1:13PM
Same here, so that she could totally make out with Zelda.
grapenutsrobot @ Apr 1st 2008 11:42AM
It seriously did look like a Sci-Fi Channel movie, but it did do some things right really.
Awesome elaborate joke. Props to IGN.
Cluckyx @ Apr 1st 2008 11:42AM
This may well be the greatest one of the day. Some real effort and thought has gone into it.
The actual storyline is a masterpiece. It sort of takes bits for several games and almost gets it right. But confuses enough aspects and gets enough things wrong just enough to piss off the fanboys. You just know if they had mentioned the triforce it would have been called the triforge or something.
Subtle, perfect. Hilarious.
Derick @ Apr 1st 2008 1:08PM
Looked pretty much like OoT to me. I bet the beginning was translated from aLttP, but the story would have been OoT.
wow it's been a while since I used those acronyms...