In addition to the recent announcement of Mario Kart for mobile phones, Nintendo has also revealed what has been rumored for months: the development of the animated Mario movie. This will be a collaboration between Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind hits like Despicable Me and Minions.
Back in 2016, the company led by Masahiro Sakurai had expressed its desire to bring the plumber back to the big screen. A few years earlier, Avi Arad, producer of the unsuccessful saga The Amazing Spider-Man, had intended to take on the project with Sony, but the negotiations fell through. After several years, we finally have news again.
Nintendo and Illumination join forces
The new animated film will be co-produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Chris Meledandri, and will be financed by Universal Studios and Nintendo. The Nintendo-Universal partnership doesn't end there: last June, the new Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios Japan was announced, set to open in 2020.
From 1993 to the future
The live-action production of Super Mario Bros (1993) is now a distant memory. Despite featuring two great actors like Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, it couldn't avoid commercial disaster. But how can we forget Koopa (Dennis Hopper) and its giant helpers with tiny heads, or the constant inconsistencies throughout the film? What matters is that Mario will get his redemption on the big screen with an animated movie, and it will be Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment that make it possible.
