The announcement was recently made that Chris Pratt would be leading an all-star voice cast on the new animated Super Mario Bros. movie from Illumination, and now according to co-producer and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the movie is almost complete. During a Q&A session at the end of a financial results meeting, the game director said that the first cut of the movie is complete but needs some refining. In comments translated on Twitter by investment advisor David Gibson, Miyamoto commented that there is a “very good feeling” internally about the movie but they want to make sure that it “does not betray customers,” and they are still polishing the final cut.
You have to wonder how much of these comments are a direct result of fan backlash to Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog movie, which initially gained a host of complaints about the design of the speedy blue character to the point the movie underwent an expensive overhaul in order to give Sonic the look fans expected and pretty much demanded of the film. As it turned out, it was the right decision with the movie becoming a huge hit and kicking off a probable new franchise. Of course, if Nintendo can get it right the first time, then they will be happier for it.
In line with recent rumors that Seth Rogen will be branching out from Super Mario Bros. with a solo Donkey Kong movie, Miyamoto also suggested that there are more movies being developed from Nintendo’s many IPs, but fans will have to be patient as they seem to be concentrating on each one as they come.
Miyamoto said, “Super Mario Film is pretty much done, working on the last bit, have a very good feeling about it, but we are very careful not to betray customers and meet expectations, continue to work to polish the movie. Would like to roll out with other IPs for movies etc, people should experience IP in variety of [ways]. But going one by one, not say doing many IP movies at same time.”
Q: What can you say about the 20xx next gen device?
A: Nothing can say, Switch think is in middle phase of cycle, now have OLED and momentum continues with wide variety of software line-up. 2)— David Gibson (@gibbogame) November 5, 2021
A: Would like to roll out with other IPs for movies etc, people should experience IP in variety of wats. But going one by one, not say doing many IP movies at same time. – Miyamoto answered.
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) November 5, 2021
Of course as well as Mario and the rumored Donkey Kong spinoff, Nintendo have already brought their Pokemon franchise to the big screen more than once, but in addition to these they also have the likes of Animal Crossing and The Legend of Zelda at their disposal, as well as numerous Mario variations they have created over the last four decades such as Wario’s World and Luigi’s Mansion all surely being in contention for a conversion to feature film.
Super Mario Bros. features a cast including 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, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike. While the casting of Pratt in the lead role didn’t exactly bring a wave of positive comments, we will see how his performance pans out when the movie is released in December 2022.
Source: movieweb.com