The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Universal/Illumination | April 5, 2023 | Chris Pratt is Mario, Charlie Day is Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy is Peach | Reviews are in. It's-a bad!

[WrathOfHan]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mario-bros-set-to-jump-to-big-screen-in-movie-deal-with-universals-illumination-1510675881

 

Quote

Mario and Luigi are heading to the big screen in one of the highest-profile licensing deals by a Hollywood studio in years.

Illumination Entertainment, which makes animated films for Comcast Corp.’sCMCSA -0.81% Universal Pictures, is close to an agreement with Nintendo Co.NTDOY +1.50% to make an animated “Super Mario Bros.” movie based on the 32-year-old videogame series about a pair of sibling plumbers who fight evil turtles and mushrooms in a fantasy kingdom, said people with knowledge of the discussions.

Nintendo’s marquee characters have long been tempting to Hollywood, particularly now that the movie business is driven by globally popular franchise films featuring well known brands like Marvel superheroes, “Fast and Furious” and Harry Potter. The dozens of Super Mario Brothers games and their spin-offs are widely believed to be the best-selling videogame franchise ever, having sold more than 330 million units total, according to Nintendo.

Other Hollywood studios have sought the Super Mario Brothers rights in the past, according to people familiar with the discussions.

 

[WrathOfHan]

 

[Jonwo]

Well, it can only be an improvement on the live action film! 

[Sal]

Ugh.  Not a fan of their studio choice.  If they're going for appealing characters and a good story there's many better options (including Dreamworks which is owned by Comcast as well).  But at least it can't be as bad as the Live Action one...

[Morieris]

Illumination 

[Jonwo]

Just now, Sal said:

Ugh.  Not a fan of their studio choice.  If they're going for appealing characters and a good story there's many better options (including Dreamworks which is owned by Comcast as well).  But at least it can't be as bad as the Live Action one...

Given how strict Nintendo is with licensing, I imagine Illumination won't be able to change much if anything. 

 

Super Mario Odyssey revitalised the franchise but I think it should be an orignal story but with the humour of the Mario and Luigi games.

[YM!]

On one hand an animated Mario movie would be dope.

On the other hand it’s Illumination

On the third hand it’s not Sony Animation

[YM!]

 

[MCKillswitch123]

Animated Mario movie? YAY.

 

Illumination? NAY. NAY, NAY, NAY, NAY, NAY.

[Jonwo]

I wonder if we'll see other characters like Wario and Waluigi, Wario alone would be great.

[YM!]

Guessing this will be that July 2021 spot. Think $400M/$1B is happen.

[MrGamer]

[Jonwo]

10 minutes ago, YourMother said:

Guessing this will be that July 2021 spot. Think $400M/$1B is happen.

That's a wildly optimistic prediction.... SLOP numbers are more likely at best

[YM!]

1 minute ago, Jonwo said:

That's a wildly optimistic prediction.... SLOP numbers are more likely at best

If it gets likeable numbers on RT (65%-75%), nostalgia, Illumination’s marketing power, and potentially a big total in Japan, I can see $1B

[SLAM!]

I'm not surprised. The president of the company has been making strides to expand their brand reach. This is bound to happen either way, an Illumination guarantees that people see this.

 

Whether or not It's good is another story. But the company is capable of good storytelling to an extent (the first Despicable Me; Sing). I'm optimistic.

[YM!]

The creator of Mario and director of games will likely be a producer.

[cannastop]

29 minutes ago, YourMother said:

Guessing this will be that July 2021 spot. Think $400M/$1B is happen.

I'm thinking more along the lines of $150m/$450m.

[John Marston]

it was only a matter of time

[Alpha]

Illumination?

 

[YM!]

I wonder if Miyamoto will produce.