A new report indicates that Nintendo will once again be making a full length film featuring the Super Mario Bros.
Variety reports that Mario and Luigi will make their way to an animated film thanks to the help of Illumination and its founder Chris Meledandri!
Meledandri is no stranger in the animated world. His producer credits can be seen in The Secret Life of Pets and Despicable Me. His next project The Grinch is expected to hit theaters this weekend. He notes that bringing the pair of Italian plumbers into the Mushroom Kingdom isn’t going to be an easy task especially with bad vibes from the 1993 live action adaptation. However, he relishes the challenge and thinks the live-action’s horrible reputation is actually a boon.
“I like that this was not done well the first time. I think that’s more exciting or more worthy than simply making another version of a film that was done incredibly well to begin with.”
Many may have forgotten, but the 1993 film which starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo wasn’t very well received by critics and fans. The audience score sits at 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.
But Meledandri believes he knows where the 1993 film went wrong. He specifically points to the lack of collaboration with Nintendo and Super Mario Bros. designers and producers. He’s making sure not to make that same mistake and is working closely with Super Mario Bros. designer and producer Shigeru Miyamoto.
“We are keeping him front and center in the creation of this film. I’ve rarely seen that happen with any adaptation where the original creative voice is being embraced like we’re embracing Miyamoto. There’s a history in Hollywood of people believing that they know better than the people responsible for a property. I’ve made that mistake before.”
Meledandri also talked about how difficult bringing this film to life was going to be. The lore, one that spans multiple titles, consoles and generations haven’t been the most consistent, to say the least. But he seems excited:
“It’s an ambitious task. The challenge is taking things that are so thin in their original form and finding depth that doesn’t compromise what generations of fans love about Mario, but also feels organic to the iconography and can support a three-act structure.”
The animated film is in “priority development” at Illumination and could be in theaters by 2022.
Nintendo looks to definitely be expanding their popular video game IPs into animation. This report comes off one last week that indicated the Legends of Zelda could be getting an animated series.
What do you think of this report? Does the involvement of Shigeru Miyamoto relieve some fears? Or does the shadow of the 1993 film still burn?