Illumination's Super Mario Bros (2023)

[Mike S]

Either talking or minimal talking it has to be Martinet.

 

[JungleSkip]

Either talking or minimal talking it has to be Martinet.

It really doesn't have to be, but minimal talking is the only way I think he does the VA

 

[zg44]

This is my personal feeling on the matter, but every time they've had Mario talk, he doesn't feel like Mario. The old cartoons and movie (yes I know the movie was a special kind of bad) just feel...off with him having loads and loads of dialogue. His physical/body language reactions to things are gold in the games, and I think relying on those are better, personally.

Heck, even in the RPGs he's in he has no dialogue. I just think Mario, as the put-upon hero dealing with Luigi, Toad, etc and being the strong silent type is just a better way to go with the character.

I can understand where you're coming from, but the problem with that comparison is that when Mario's "play-acting/explaining without words" things to others (like in LotSS when he uses his various acting charades), he's typically explaining stuff that the viewer already saw before.

It's going to be completely different in a movie where the character has to react in real time and pull the viewer along for the ride. I think they really need a better reason for why he's quiet than that. In LotSS it worked because it was funny seeing Mario impersonate others and the viewer was on the inside, so when Mario would do his 10-20 second charades to catch other characters up, it was entertaining.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but typically when a human character has many scenes with no dialogue, it's because they're alone: like I Am Legend or The Martian or something like that (WALL-E uses the same reason with the robot on an abandoned planet). That naturally makes sense for Link who may spend parts of the movie in "destroyed Hyrule" or on a solo adventure.

I can't imagine Mario will be put in those kinds of scenarios where he's alone though, so they need to figure out his interactions with others (Luigi, Toad, etc.) if they want to not have him talk much.

 

[rhino4evr]

what if the premises is that a bunch of odd ball adults find a "magic" NES, and they are all sucked into the mushroom kingdom and become the characters.

Oh wait that's Jumanji.

 

[jtsalien]

If they can recast actual legendary speaking characters like the Muppets, they can recast Mario. His voice isn't the character. When somebody like Mark Hammil does the Joker, that transcends a character and brings a unique spin. Spouting off catchphrases and sounds doesn't.

 

[rhino4evr]

If they can recast actual legendary speaking characters like the Muppets, they can recast Mario. His voice isn't the character. When somebody like Mark Hammil does the Joker, that transcends a character and brings a unique spin. Spouting off catchphrases and sounds doesn't.

this is exactly what I said. Trust me, if the budget is high, they aren't going to rely on a videogame voice actor to front a major motion picture.

 

[anihilnation]

Bowser: Mario, I am your father.
Mario: No!

 

[Mike S]

If they can recast actual legendary speaking characters like the Muppets, they can recast Mario. His voice isn't the character. When somebody like Mark Hammil does the Joker, that transcends a character and brings a unique spin. Spouting off catchphrases and sounds doesn't.

It’s still the voice people expect. Why have a drastic difference between the games and movie. It needs to be his voice or one extremely similar. He’s done other voice work. Let’s see what he can do with actual direction as Mario. Plus it’ll be extremely cheap as he’s the voice of Luigi too so two for the price of one. He also does Wario and Waluigi if they wanted to include them as well.

Man, thinking about I’d die to see a video of him in the studio recording a scene that has all four of them lol.

 

[Paulio]

There’s a video in that link with him talking.

I meant during the movie, I wonder it's gonna turn out though in the full-length feature, since Mario in the games are just silent or speak some catchphrases.

 

[quinnmac000]

An extremely important piece of news was missed last week regarding this film...which is we may not get one.

Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto says that he's been working with and talking to producer Chris Meledandri about the Super Mario movie for two years, but didn't want to announce the project until they were far enough along. He hopes more details on the movie will be coming soon.



"We've talked together and share the feeling that if we can't make something interesting we'll just call it quits," Miyamoto told a group of analysts during a recent Nintendo policy briefing. "But we've already met a number of times to hash out the screenplay, our talks together are progressing, and I hope to make an announcement once we've ironed out some things like the schedule."

Miyamoto told the gather that he's been considering an animated film for many years now.

"There has long been talk that Nintendo could make a movie because 'making a game is like making a movie.' But they are completely different to me. Interactive experiences are completely different from non-interactive media, and to make a movie I want a film expert to do the work."

With that in mind, Miyamoto says he started talking with all sorts of different movie directors and producers. Eventually he was introduced to Illumination, and its CEO Meledandri, through the work Universal and Nintendo are doing on theme park attractions.

"As a producer, Chris Meledandri (Illumination's CEO) is noted here for movies like Minions and Sing, but he is a veteran with a ton of experience, including the movie Ice Age and stints at companies like 20th Century Fox Animation," Miyamoto says. "When I talked with Chris, he said he had read a lot of interviews with me and felt we had a similar approach to creation. Talking about our similarities, we clicked and decided maybe we should do some kind of collaboration. We started our conversation over two years ago, and finally reached the stage where we could make an announcement. Chris is extremely cost-conscious and time-conscious in his quest to make successful movies. We decided to try making a movie together, and distributing the completed movie globally through Universal Pictures."

Shigeru Miyamoto: Why Nintendo Is Making a Mario Movie - Rolling Stone

 

[uiwansonic88]

A Yoshi movie coming out in 2020 could coincide well with the opening of a Nintendo Land in Japan if Yoshi somehow had something to do with the area like it seems like he was going to at least at one point.

A Diddy Kong or Donkey Kong Jr. vs Kremling crocodiles movie in 2020 that could build anticipation off a King Kong vs Godzilla movie in 2020 being well-liked could be pretty beneficial for Universal and Nintendo. I don't know how much Illumination, Universal, and Nintendo would know about what is going on with that King Kong vs Godzilla movie by WB however and whether they think the movie may be well-liked. A movie with a small ape such as Diddy Kong or Donkey Kong Jr. instead of a big ape could be something interesting that might make it seem similar to Kong vs Godzilla, but maybe not too similar which maybe could be the case if a movie had a big Donkey Kong in it. Maybe it wouldn't seem too similar to many viewers if they had a big Donkey Kong in a movie however.

Having King Kong and Godzilla in one movie is kind of an interesting partnership in that Godzilla is associated more with Japan and King Kong in some ways is associated with the USA. This is kind of similar to how Universal is associated in some ways with the USA and Nintendo is associated in some ways with Japan. There doesn't seem to be quite the same associations with the Kong characters and Kremling characters, though. Kremling characters might also be more often considered to be villains by viewers in such a movie however unlike what has a good chance of happening with Godzilla in the Kong vs Godzilla movie. Maybe Yoshi could appear in a Diddy Kong movie however and not be as villainous as Kremling characters. Perhaps they could have one or more teases of Yoshi, Mario, and/or Donkey Kong during the credits after the main Diddy Kong or DK Jr. movie or even at some point(s) during the main movie before it ends.

 

[Ryan]

Whoa man slow down, we don't even know if we're getting Mario yet.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

A Yoshi movie coming out in 2020 could coincide well with the opening of a Nintendo Land in Japan if Yoshi somehow had something to do with the area like it seems like he was going to at least at one point.

A Diddy Kong or Donkey Kong Jr. vs Kremling crocodiles movie in 2020 that could build anticipation off a King Kong vs Godzilla movie in 2020 being well-liked could be pretty beneficial for Universal and Nintendo. I don't know how much Illumination, Universal, and Nintendo would know about what is going on with that King Kong vs Godzilla movie by WB however and whether they think the movie may be well-liked. A movie with a small ape such as Diddy Kong or Donkey Kong Jr. instead of a big ape could be something interesting that might make it seem similar to Kong vs Godzilla, but maybe not too similar which maybe could be the case if a movie had a big Donkey Kong in it. Maybe it wouldn't seem too similar to many viewers if they had a big Donkey Kong in a movie however.

Having King Kong and Godzilla in one movie is kind of an interesting partnership in that Godzilla is associated more with Japan and King Kong in some ways is associated with the USA. This is kind of similar to how Universal is associated in some ways with the USA and Nintendo is associated in some ways with Japan. There doesn't seem to be quite the same associations with the Kong characters and Kremling characters, though. Kremling characters might also be more often considered to be villains by viewers in such a movie however unlike what has a good chance of happening with Godzilla in the Kong vs Godzilla movie. Maybe Yoshi could appear in a Diddy Kong movie however and not be as villainous as Kremling characters. Perhaps they could have one or more teases of Yoshi, Mario, and/or Donkey Kong during the credits after the main Diddy Kong or DK Jr. movie or even at some point(s) during the main movie before it ends.

I think you are over-complicating things to an absurd level, to where we should wait to see what they do first.

 

[Mike S]

Whoa man slow down, we don't even know if we're getting Mario yet.

I thought that was confirmed?

 

[quinnmac000]

I thought that was confirmed?

Its confirmed with the condition that the story has to be good or Nintendo will let the project go.

 

[Mike S]

Its confirmed with the condition that the story has to be good or Nintendo will let the project go.

Considering it’s Illumination I guess it’s not happening then unless they go back to the writing style of DM 1.

 

[quinnmac000]

Considering it’s Illumination I guess it’s not happening then unless they go back to the writing style of DM 1.

Illumination's biggest problem is the fact all their projects are mainly created by the same 5 or 6 people who finish one project and then go straight into the next project. They need some fresh blood or a larger staff.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Illumination's biggest problem is the fact all their projects are mainly created by the same 5 or 6 people who finish one project and then go straight into the next project. They need some fresh blood or a larger staff.

I would assume we will get some information in the coming months about it, but that I have to think Nintendo and Universal are both well-aware of that issue in particular for Illumination, and a part of me wouldn't be surprised if there is new blood coming to help intervene.

 

[Mike S]

Illumination's biggest problem is the fact all their projects are mainly created by the same 5 or 6 people who finish one project and then go straight into the next project. They need some fresh blood or a larger staff.

That sounds like hell.

 

[quinnmac000]

That sounds like hell.

Or heaven for those who really love their jobs which the higher levels really do.

Its essentially the same as Pixar and Dreamworks where a lot of the projects are done by the same people but they have a leg up over Illuminations. They have a much larger pool of applicants, better management, and more/better qualified people would rather work in California than in France. Illumination's animation is mainly done by extremely junior animators as well that are right out of University.