The Super Mario Bros. Movie is an upcoming computer-animated fantasy adventure comedy film based on the Nintendo video game franchise Mario. The film is produced by Illumination with financing from Universal Pictures and Nintendo, and distributed by Universal Pictures. It is the franchise's third film adaptation, following the Japanese anime film Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! (1986) and the live-action film Super Mario Bros. (1993). Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (in Jelenic's feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel, the film features an ensemble voice cast including Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Charles Martinet, and Kevin Michael Richardson.
After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 live-action film, Nintendo was reluctant to license its intellectual properties for film adaptations. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto became interested in developing another film when Nintendo was bringing its older games to the Virtual Console service, and through Nintendo's work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create Super Nintendo World, he met Illumination founder Chris Meledandri. By 2016, the two were discussing a Mario film and in January 2018, Nintendo announced that it would collaborate with Illumination and Universal to produce it. Production was underway by 2020, and the cast was publicly announced in September 2021.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released in the United States on April 5, 2023, and in Japan on April 28. Critics reception was generally mixed with praise to the visual effects. But criticized the story and some music wasn’t used. Despite the reception, it was a massive success at the box-office. Becoming the highest grossing film of 2023 until Barbie surpassed it’s box-office gross. A sequel, spin-offs and feature adaptions of the Nintendo video game series are in development.
Cast[]
- Chris Pratt as Mario
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach
- Charlie Day as Luigi
- Jack Black as Bowser
- Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
- Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
- Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
- Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek
- Khary Payton as the Penguin King
- Scott Menville as Koopa General
- Charles Martinet as Mario and Luigi's father, Giuseppe
- Rino Romano as Uncle Tony
- John DiMaggio as Uncle Arthur
- Jessica DiCicco as Mario and Luigi's Mother
- Eric Bauza as Toad General
- Juliet Jelenic as Lumalee