IGN's 'The Legend of Zelda' trailer is high quality, but not a real movie

If you were one of millions to see the trailer for IGN-released “The Legend of Zelda” (yes, from the video game) on April 1, 2008, you may also have been among the many who were confused about whether or not it’s a real movie that’ll really be released in 2009.

Variety on April 4, 2008 cleared up the air:

The most watched trailer on the Internet last week won’t be coming to a theater near you.

Videogame site IGN has a history of fooling fans with stories that are too good to be true on April 1, but it went to a whole new level this year by “debuting” the trailer for a non-existent movie based on Nintendo’s beloved franchise “The Legend of Zelda.”

The trailer boasted production values so high-quality that many fans, while probably not fooled, drooled and then emailed it to friends. In just two days, it racked up 2 million views on IGN and its News Corp. sibling MySpace, with countless more coming on other video sites.

The trailer can be watched below. The full Variety story can be read here.