The Legend of Zelda movie and Sonic 4 are game for competition with both set for release a week apart

Heroes of Hyrule and high-speed hedgehogs will be facing off against one another a few years from now, following the news that the recently announced adaptation of The Legend of Zelda will be hitting theaters a week after Sonic returns for his fourth big-screen outing. The clash of calendars has been verified after it was finally announced last week that The Legend of Zelda was given a release date of March 26, 2027, with the blue blur getting ahead of Link's debut (naturally), penciling in the date of March 19 for Sonic 4.

Should neither project change plans, it'll mark a monumental week for gamers who will see two absolute icons battle it out at the box office. Could we have a new Barbenheimer on the cards? What's the best option? Zonic? Selda? Choose your fighter, folks.

The only accurate detail we know about Sonic 4 is that the movie will involve Amy Rose and an army of Metal Sonics on the rise to take down our prickly protagonist, voiced by Ben Schwartz. While there are no confirmed cast members just yet, you can guarantee that Schwartz, along with James Marsden, Colleen O'Shaughnessey as Tails, Idris Elba as Knuckles and Keanu Reeves as Shadow will be back for more top-speed thrills, spills and ring collecting. However, one cast member still a potential flight risk is Jim Carrey, who promised he would retire after Sonic the Hedgehog 2 only to return for thirds. It made for a wise choice, given that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now his highest-grossing movie and a win for the actor, who confessed that he returned to screens simply because he needed the money.

But while the Sonic team awaits confirmation from Carrey, details regarding The Legend of Zelda are even scarcer. The only name set on the project is Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes director Wes Ball, who has teased some plans he has in place for bringing that world to life. Speaking in 2024 about the project, Ball said, "I have this awesome idea. I’ve been thinking about it for a long freakin’ time, of how cool a Zelda movie would be... I want to fulfill people’s greatest desires," he explained. "I know it’s important, this [Zelda] franchise, to people, and I want it to be a serious movie. A real movie that can give people an escape. That’s the thing I want to try to create – it’s got to feel like something real. Something serious and cool but fun and whimsical."

Of course, there's a long way until 2027, at which point either project could budge to avoid the heat of the other. For now, press pause, and while you're at it, check out our picks for 10 of the best video game movies here.