Sam Neill’s Final Screen Role Confirmed in Live-Action Legend of Zelda Movie

Sam Neill’s final screen performance will be in Nintendo and Sony’s live-action The Legend of Zelda film, according to Deadline, which reports the New Zealand actor quietly filmed an undisclosed role in Wes Ball’s adaptation before his death on July 13 at age 78. The trade outlet’s casting report, corroborated by Nintendo Life, ScreenRant and several other outlets, also confirms three additional cast members joining the long-gestating video game adaptation.

Neill Filmed His Scenes Before the Production Wrapped in April

Neill had already completed his work on the film months before he died. The late Sam Neill filmed a role in Sony and Nintendo’s live-action adaptation of the beloved Nintendo adventure franchise before his passing on July 13, and the movie wrapped production in April, meaning Neill had completed his work on the film several months earlier. Deadline has not disclosed which character he plays, and outlets including Nintendo Life note it’s not known at this stage exactly what his role will be, but we suspect this will be confirmed soon.

The secrecy fits a production that has revealed little about its story details since Nintendo first confirmed its two leads. Nintendo announced Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason as Link and Zelda last July, and these are the first major casting details to surface since then.

Ganondorf, Impa and a Mystery Queen Round Out the New Cast Reveals

Alongside Neill, Deadline’s report names three more additions to the film. Deadline reports that Uli Latukefu will play the villain Ganondorf, with Severance star Dichen Lachman cast as Impa, Princess Zelda’s bodyguard and advisor, and The Handmaid’s Tale actor Yvonne Strahovski set for an unspecified queenly role.

Lachman’s casting resolves months of fan speculation. Severance actor Dichen Lachman has been confirmed to play Zelda’s Sheik bodyguard Impa, which fans have speculated about for months after the actor appeared in leaked set photos. Strahovski’s part remains murkier, though sources indicate that she plays a queen.

Pneumonia Named as Cause of Death After Cancer Recovery

Neill’s death was confirmed by his family in a statement posted to his Instagram page on July 13. Legendary New Zealand actor Sam Neill, who starred in “Jurassic Park” and “Peaky Blinders,” died Monday in Sydney, Australia at age 78, his family said. The statement, using the Māori word for extended family, read: “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing.”

Days later, his longtime agent clarified how he died. “Jurassic Park” star Sam Neill died of pneumonia, his agent confirmed on Thursday. Agent Philip Grenz said he was disclosing the cause of death to end “inaccuracies and outright falsehoods” in media reporting. Grenz added that “Sam passed away from pneumonia. Prior to becoming sick, Sam had valiantly fought and beaten lymphoma through a new treatment called CAR-T therapy.”

Neill had been open about his health struggles in his final years. In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and he announced in April 2026 that treatment had left him cancer-free before his sudden death.

Zelda Joins a Crowded Slate of Posthumous Neill Releases

The Legend of Zelda is one of several projects Neill shot in his final working year that will now reach audiences after his death. Grenz revealed that in the past year, Neill had “filmed four projects back-to-back… all of which will be released within the coming months.” Two others have since been identified: a supporting role in Warner and Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, and the romantic comedy The Last Resort alongside Daisy Ridley and Alden Ehrenreich.

The Zelda film carries extra weight for New Zealand, Neill’s home country, where his death drew tribute from the nation’s top political office. New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon mourned Neill as “one of the greats,” writing “he started out when there was barely a film industry to speak of” and that “for more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world.”

Zelda’s Live-Action Adaptation Targets a May 2027 Release

Wes Ball’s film has been in development since Sony and Nintendo first partnered on it in 2023, with Shigeru Miyamoto and Avi Arad producing. Sony first announced it would distribute and co-finance a Zelda movie in the fall of 2023, with Wes Ball coming aboard to direct and Miyamoto and Avi Arad set to produce, while T.S. Nowlin penned the most recent draft of the script; the film is slated for release in theaters on May 7, 2027.

The adaptation is drawing from one of gaming’s most enduring franchises. The Legend of Zelda franchise, created by Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, 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, and since its launch on Nintendo in 1986, the franchise has sold over 150 million units.

For Kiwi and Australian fans in particular, seeing one of the region’s most decorated screen exports make a final appearance in a Nintendo tentpole adds an unusually personal note to an already highly anticipated adaptation. With the film’s story details still tightly guarded, exactly which corner of Hyrule Neill occupies remains one of the more closely watched mysteries heading toward the movie’s 2027 release.