A Rundown of The Super Mario Bros. Movie
With help from D’Avion Middleton, let’s look at what is going on and what the future holds for the film.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s teaser trailer, which was simultaneously shown during a live Nintendo Direct and New York Comic Con on October 6th, 2022, has led to many conversations. Even before the teaser trailer, there were already conversations about this movie. Let us look at Chris Pratt’s controversial casting as Mario to another big-budget movie casting Hollywood stars instead of voice actors to other concerns with the film.
History: Before this movie, the last movie about Mario was Super Mario Bros., released in 1993. That movie, which Nintendo did not oversee production and allowed for experimentation, ended up being a critical and financial failure, taking in $38.9 million against a budget of $42-48 million. Subsequently, Nintendo decided not to license its IP further and has been hesitant to try again. However, Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario and other series at Nintendo, became interested in making a Mario movie when the company was bringing back their older games via the virtual console and with the development of the Super Nintendo World theme park. He had met Chris Meledandri, the founder of Illumination Studios, and they had started negotiations to create a Mario film. By 2018, Nintendo and Illumination announced they would work together to make the film.
Movie: Production began in 2020. Not much is known, but the cast was not told what the film would be about and was only given their lines. Even then, they had to do a bunch of recordings and were unaware of which would be selected. The movie was announced during a Nintendo Direct in September 2021, with a poster and some of the cast names being released. During the Direct, the film’s expected release date was during the Holiday 2022 season, however on April 24, 2022, Mr. Miyamoto announced via Twitter that the date had been pushed back to April 7, 2023, for North America and April 28, 2023, for Japan, most likely for more time to ensure the quality of the film.
The Casting: Most of the cast was announced during the September 2021 Nintendo Direct. Some include Chris Pratt as Mario, Jack Black as Bowser, and Ana Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach. The reaction to the cast has been mixed, with most criticism aimed at Chris Pratt voicing Mario (more on that later). One of the issues with the casting is that all the characters are voiced by Hollywood, not by trained voice actors or even by those who voice the characters in the games. Many have felt that this is Hollywood being hired for a movie that would have been a significant breakthrough that voice actors have been looking for. However, Hollywood (or Universal Pictures, which co-owns Illumination Studios) is more interested in maximizing profits and starting a franchise and are relying on this star power. This wouldn’t be the first time Universal has done this, as they cast Elizabeth Moss, known for her success in The Handmaid’s Tale, for The Invisible Man. Her performance was praised, and the film was a success. The cast they gathered for the Mario movie will surely be one way to ensure that goal since most cast members are familiar with casual moviegoers. This also could have led Pratt to get the lead role as not only do many know who he is, but the movies he stars in tend to do well at the box office even though he is contentious. Also, he has worked with Universal before (Jurassic World trilogy), and they must have thought he was perfect for the role since they had access to him, and there would be no need to find someone else.
New Mario: As stated previously, Pratt will be voicing Mario, which has caused criticism. One reason is because of Chris Pratt himself. Pratt is generally ranked as “the worst of the Hollywood Chrises” of a list that includes Pine, Evans, and Hemsworth. This is because of Pratt’s political leanings, lack of charm, and the church he has been rumored to be affiliated with. What started as a joke on social media, many have taken it seriously and written him off, which has led to many needing to defend him. Due to this, many have questioned why he was chosen for this role and if he could voice Mario in future movies.
Many also found an issue with casting Pratt as the lead role as he is not of Italian heritage and will be voicing a character with Italian American roots. There is fear that he might imitate a stereotypical Italian accent. Those fears can be put to rest for now, as during the teaser trailer, there was no trace of any Italian accent in the voice. However, there seemed to be some hint of a Brooklyn accent, but mostly being masked by Chris Pratt’s natural voice. It might be wiser for Pratt to attempt a Brooklyn accent (Mario is supposed to be from Brooklyn); however, keep in mind that Pratt is not from Brooklyn as he was born in Minnesota and raised in Washington state, so we will see how that holds over for Brooklyn.
Nevertheless, he didn’t try to make something new and stuck with his voice. This directly contrasts with Jack Black, who will be voicing Bowser and, from what we heard so far, made his voice reminiscent of Bowser but something new at the same time. We only heard Pratt speak two lines, so we cannot gauge that much about his voice is what is to come. Nevertheless, he and Illumination will have to figure out how to handle the backlash.
Recent Adaptations: With The Super Mario Bros. Movie, many have wondered if we will see more movies based on video games. The most recent video game adaptations that have been a success are the Sonic the Hedgehog movies (the first movie’s box office was $320 million, and the second was $403.8 million), with a third one planned. A spin-off series for Sonic’s friend Knuckles is also in the works. A tv series based on the video game The Last of Us is scheduled to be released in 2023. The Uncharted movie, based on the Uncharted video game franchise, while it got mixed reviews, is considered a hit, and a sequel is planned. With other previous video game adaptations such as Detective Pikachu and Tomb Raider, it is safe to say that we will see more video game adaptions, and depending on your viewpoint, that can either be good or bad. Even if the adaptions do not turn out well, they will at least generate interest and profits in the video games it is based on.
Nintendo: With the Mario movie and more possible Nintendo franchises on the way, as well as the expansion of the Super Nintendo World theme parks around the world, Nintendo is going in an intriguing new direction. With the success of the Switch, it seems Nintendo is moving forward with further profiting off their properties, especially Mario. This explains why we see Nintendo’s interest in going beyond video games, as they want many worldwide to see Mario as more than just a video game icon. Expect more Nintendo franchises to get the “Hollywood treatment” if the Mario movie is a hit, which it most likely will be. The next candidate could be The Legend of Zelda series. Recently, there was a rumor that the Zelda series would get a Netflix show due to some fan art that portrayed Tom Holland and Emma Watson as Link and Princess Zelda, respectively. It shows an interest in this entertainment and expects more ongoing discussions about Zelda and other Nintendo properties going beyond the video game medium.
It is interesting to note how Nintendo and Mr. Miyamoto are very involved with this expansion, ensuring that it is up to their standards and not making the same mistake as the 1993 movie. Regardless of what happens with the film, Nintendo is looking toward the future and wants to focus not just on video games. It will be interesting to see how it will affect the game developments, but no severe issues should arise as these plans have been in motion for some time.
Conclusion: Concerns will only grow about the film as more information is released. While we still don’t know much about the film overall, we do know that the consensus is that many people are excited about the film and cannot wait for the new adventure that Mario will embark on. With Mr. Miyamoto as one of the film’s producers, there should be plenty in this film for the casual audience and Mario fans to love. Nevertheless, many will wonder about its implications on Nintendo properties, video game adaptations, and voice acting. Even so, at least Mario will get another go at the movies, and hopefully, this time, it will bring him the success he deserves.