Illumination's Super Mario Bros (2023)

[Mike S]

This is exactly what I'd like. I would also hope they:
- Get an extremely comedic voice actor for Bowser and fully bring in his hilarious cocky personality from the RPG games. I feel like Keith Ferguson, voice of Lord Hater from Wander Over Yander (very obscure choice, I know) would be great at voicing a humorous villain like that.
- Give Peach plenty of personality as well, just like in the RPGs. Instead of just being the goal at the end, give her a character arc and plenty of humorous moments where she annoys Bowser at Bowser's Castle. Not sure who I'd go for a VA, though.

The VAs from the games should be enough with a good script.

 

[Mike S]

Honestly, I would think that logistically keep the game actors consistent in the film, keeping Charles Martinet, Samantha Kelly, and Kenny James in the roles that have been most known in the Mario Franchise, Charles as Mario and Luigi, Samantha as Peach, and Kenny as Bowser.

Do I think it's very possible of new one-off character's being introduced into the mix is likely, with triple AAA voice talent? I do think that's more probable than recasting those main three actor's roles at this point. And that in a way, those three actor's could be able to actually act their characters again, as opposed to just giving one off line's and sounds of shrugs, fighting noises and impact noises.

FTFY.

 

[JungleSkip]

Honestly, I would think that logistically keep the game actors consistent in the film, keeping Charles Martinet, Samantha Kelly, and Kenny James in the roles that have been most known in the Mario Franchise, Charles as Mario, Samantha as Peach, and Kenny as Bowser.

I love all those people in the games...but I do not think they're the choices for a feature length movie

 

[Mike S]

I love all those people in the games...but I do not think they're the choices for a feature length movie

And how do you know. Charles is a great VA with a ton of range. He also did Paarthurnax in Skyrim. I think he can play Mario in an animated movie.

 

[Viator]

FTFY.

Technically, I am still not wrong (as Martinet also voices the green ghostbusting plumber).

To be honest, I think a great idea would be incorporating aspects of what @JungleSkip mentioned, of it being more in the vein of using Mario and Peach as the main protagonists, going out to rescue Luigi from Bowser when perhaps someone/thing else may want to try to challenge Bowser in the process.

I love all those people in the games...but I do not think they're the choices for a feature length movie

I have to think it's more of that those actors haven't had anything to work off of yet that has a more legitimate script. It depends on who they have for the writing staff in this project from Illumination.

 

[JungleSkip]

He also did Paarthurnax in Skyrim.

I would not consider that a positive.

I have to think it's more of that those actors haven't had anything to work off of yet that has a more legitimate script. It depends on who they have for the writing staff in this project from Illumination.

I mean, is it possible? Sure. But I doubt a studio is going to want to gamble their corner stone movie on a guy who's done little more in the franchise than repeat a certain set of lines.

Again, not denying that he's not great in the role he's done for the games, but I'll be surprised if he is the lead of the movie*.

*Unless they go with Mario being largely mute throughout the movie, which I think is the best option

 

[Viator]

I would not consider that a positive.



I mean, is it possible? Sure. But I doubt a studio is going to want to gamble their corner stone movie on a guy who's done little more in the franchise than repeat a certain set of lines.

Again, not denying that he's not great in the role he's done for the games, but I'll be surprised if he is the lead of the movie*.

*Unless they go with Mario being largely mute throughout the movie, which I think is the best option

Honestly, I would love to have Mario be minimal, with Peach acting almost as a person that could speak for Mario in the way's that he could be doing things. It may give more potential for Kelly to extend her acting capabilities, along with the animators *and writers* to use Mario in situations that could lead to humor including that very easily IMO.

 

[Paulio]

I would think that this would almost definitely be the backbone of the plot. If not, I’d be surprised. As great as Mario games are, diversity in story has never been something they aimed for, though Odyssey at least approached things from a fresh angle.

It's better to be something like you see in the Lego Movie. What we need is a fresh storyline something new, something surprising, something new, and something not too linear all the time like you see in the video game. However, the way Illumination operates with its storylines and characters, it doesn't make me feel confident it's gonna go so well. If they went to Disney and Pixar, they would create a perfection, but Disney isn't known for letting others have creative control so Nintendo chose Universal mainly due to the partnership with Nintendo World at Universal theme parks.

 

[Legacy]

Hugh Jackman as Yoshi?

 

[TheGentTrent]

I haven't played many Mario games in my life (nor recently), but the characters have always seemed very one-dimensional to me.

Mario-Hero who always gets the job done and the girl
Luigi-Sidekick who should be cooler than the main guy, but still plays second fiddle
Peach-Damsel in distress who always gets kidnapped no matter the circumstances
Bowser-Seeks to kidnap and destroy everyone and everything
Toad-Just annoying

Not exactly the kind of cast you can build a sophisticated screenplay around. Video game movies tend to result in low box office figures (see Ratchet and Clank), so it's no surprise to see Illumination get the deal rather than Dreamworks (who'd add $50 million dollars to the budget along with negotiating deals for Netflix shows and spin-offs). As for Laika, they seem committed to independent story-telling free from Hollywood influence.

 

[Viator]

I haven't played many Mario games in my life (nor recently), but the characters have always seemed very one-dimensional to me.

Mario-Hero who always gets the job done and the girl
Luigi-Sidekick who should be cooler than the main guy, but still plays second fiddle
Peach-Damsel in distress who always gets kidnapped no matter the circumstances
Bowser-Seeks to kidnap and destroy everyone and everything
Toad-Just annoying

Not exactly the kind of cast you can build a sophisticated screenplay around. Video game movies tend to result in low box office figures (see Ratchet and Clank), so it's no surprise to see Illumination get the deal rather than Dreamworks (who'd add $50 million dollars to the budget along with negotiating deals for Netflix shows and spin-offs)

I would highly recommend giving games like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario a chance, as it gives a lot of personality and character to not only Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Toad, but also of the worlds represented.

There is, a lot at stake; as it's been a landmark franchise for the gaming industry in general, and not to mention the popularity of Mario booming more with the rampid success of Odyssey, along with that 2020 is bringing Mario as one of the mascots of the Summer Olympics at Tokyo.

Mario, and his world; is iconic. Hell, I'd put it almost on a level of that he's Nintendo's Mickey Mouse. And considering that Nintendo has for years, kept to it as a very strict company on how IP's are used, stuff like Super Nintendo World, Mario + Rabbids, and especially the Illumination/Nintendo deal, is huge.

 

[Ryan]

All I'm going to say is this: if you're expecting something smarter than "Mario and Luigi team up to rescue the Princess", you're looking at the wrong studio. Illumination is not subversive, it's in fact quite the opposite: they intentionally make films for mass-market crowds, pleasing the broad spectrum as much as possible. They then maximize profits by making their films low budget. How? Through cost-cutting on two waves:

1) animation and background detail
2) story development

This is why you get films like Despicable Me 3 with stories strewn out of sitcoms, uninspired characters and simplistic jokes with lots of slapstick. Very easy stuff thrown from a quick writers session to the computers.

Look, if you're like JungleSkip or Alexshow and you like these films, that's totally fine, you like what you like. But we should still manage our expectations. Nintendo is looking for something that people will at least like. Illumination, for the most part, will deliver a product that at the very worst, is just fine. I would prefer something else.

 

[Disneyhead]

The NCU: Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong each has a trilogy leading up to a massive crossover trilogy. Chris Pratt will voice all the characters. Lin Manuel Miranda does all the music.

 

[uiwansonic88]

I have a suspicion that it might be a better idea for Nintendo to try to make an animated movie or tv show with a studio before trying to make a movie about Mario or the Mario Bros, especially if Nintendo is going to want someone from their company having significant input on the movie or tv show. I guess we don't know that this won't necessarily happen, but I think it might be a better idea to try to make one or more movie or tv shows about some character or characters like Diddy Kong, Diddy Kong and his girlfriend or sister, Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong and some of his family members, Kirby, Ice Climbers (even though they are not too popular a decent movie with entertaining cartoon/video game style physics could still be made for a low cost), Star Fox, Animal Crossing, Yoshi, some other old video game or games that Nintendo made in the past that have some similarity in their style of appeal to Mario, or some old video game or games that were made in the past that Nintendo can cheaply buy the movie and future game rights to. For those old video games I mentioned they would preferably at least some minor degree of popularity at least in the past and some association with being on a Nintendo game console. Zelda and Metroid I didn't include on that list because I think that have some pretty big potential for some future animated and/or live action movies and/or shows based on those so I think there should probably be some prior attempts at things before something involving those are attempted.

I think it might be better for Nintendo to get some familiarity with the process of making movies and tv shows before they get into trying to be involved with the making of a Mario or Mario Bros movie. It would also probably be a good idea for the studio Nintendo would be working with to get used to trying to make what Nintendo wants the movie to be before they try to make a Mario movie. Additionally, if they try to make some movies or shows before Mario, they can possibly get a chance to have some experience with a variety of writers and directors (and maybe studios if they switched from Illumination to Universal for instance or even to a different studio than those two) and find one they like based on this experience for making this Mario movie.

The idea of a Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong movie before trying to make a movie with more of the Kong family is something I have thought of before. If the people making the Diddy Kong movie try something and it doesn't work out too well, they can try something significantly different with a Donkey Kong movie without Diddy and Dixie in it and with some explanation for the different style due to the different character being focused on in the Donkey Kong movie. If the Diddy and Dixie movie did well, a sequel could have other people in the Kong family such as Donkey Kong besides focusing on Diddy and Dixie or just again focus on Diddy and Dixie. I'm not sure what Universal and WB who Universal sometimes cooperates with sort of for theme parks are planning on doing with King Kong and other big monster movies in the future however. Maybe the idea of a Diddy and Dixie movie or Donkey Kong movie would interfere with some of these ideas. Also there might be some ideas for Donkey Kong appearing in the upcoming Mario movie or future Mario movie so maybe the idea of focusing on Diddy or Donkey Kong in a movie would interfere with that.

There is some benefit from having the first animated Nintendo movie be with their most popular character and be a big deal if it is a big success. It might help build up excitement and goodwill for future movies even if they feature less popular characters. Some people might even be willing to give those movies a shot at seeing in theaters even if they get worse reviews or worse word of mouth than a popular, well-reviewed previous movie.

There are also some risks though. If it does poorly, then people might not be too welcoming to future movies involving the same studio and other groups involved. The idea of a movie featuring more popular characters is also something that people can't look forward to if the movie with the most popular characters has already come out which is something interesting that can occur for a series of movies. I'm not sure how much it would generally make people want to see movies that don't feature those very popular characters however. That doesn't mean that people can't find something to find interesting in future movies that don't have those popular characters, but maybe it takes away from something that people could be discussing online at least before this movies with the most popular characters would come out.

I guess with Illumination's budgets, there might be a good chance of a Mario movie and future movies with Nintendo characters making some profit even if if the first Mario movie isn't a giant hit. Especially if the animation is similar to what it is like in some recent games and doesn't have a lot of things try to look like they are real world life-like things. It just seems like the Mario movie and some future movies could possibly benefit more in terms of critical perception and financial things if more experience and feeling out occurred from the groups involved before a Mario movie came out.

 

[uiwansonic88]

I would not consider that a positive.



I mean, is it possible? Sure. But I doubt a studio is going to want to gamble their corner stone movie on a guy who's done little more in the franchise than repeat a certain set of lines.

Again, not denying that he's not great in the role he's done for the games, but I'll be surprised if he is the lead of the movie*.

*Unless they go with Mario being largely mute throughout the movie, which I think is the best option

Martinet has made some appearances at E3 where he seems to adlib lines in Mario's voice that comment on visitors to E3. You can find them on YouTube.

Edit:

I would highly recommend giving games like Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario a chance, as it gives a lot of personality and character to not only Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Toad, but also of the worlds represented.

There is, a lot at stake; as it's been a landmark franchise for the gaming industry in general, and not to mention the popularity of Mario booming more with the rampid success of Odyssey, along with that 2020 is bringing Mario as one of the mascots of the Summer Olympics at Tokyo.

Mario, and his world; is iconic. Hell, I'd put it almost on a level of that he's Nintendo's Mickey Mouse. And considering that Nintendo has for years, kept to it as a very strict company on how IP's are used, stuff like Super Nintendo World, Mario + Rabbids, and especially the Illumination/Nintendo deal, is huge.

Makes me wonder if we'll ever see Rabbids in a Mario or Minions movie in the future. They seem somewhat reminiscent of Minions to me and even were made by people from the same country. Rabbids have also appeared in theme parks before like the Minons and there is an 'amusement center' with some features inspired by Rabbids in Canada that could be an interesting replacement for the Curious George section of KidZone if much of it was recreated somewhere in Universal Studios.

 

[Ryan]

Just keep the minions out of my Mario.

 

[Paulio]

Nintendo's president hopes to come to agreement/make an announcement on a Super Mario Bros. movie soon | GoNintendo

 

[zg44]

Targeting a 2020 release seems really aggressive and doesn't make sense given Universal already has 2 Illumination movies lined up for 2020 (Sing 2 and Minions 2).

Maybe move Sing 2 to 2021 and give Super Mario Bros that December 2020 slot if Nintendo really wants it out fast.

But I don't get the point of rushing this...

 

[quinnmac000]

Targeting a 2020 release seems really aggressive and doesn't make sense given Universal already has 2 Illumination movies lined up for 2020 (Sing 2 and Minions 2).

Maybe move Sing 2 to 2021 and give Super Mario Bros that December 2020 slot if Nintendo really wants it out fast.

But I don't get the point of rushing this...

Or it means Illuminations isn't the one doing it.

 

[JungleSkip]

Illumination reshuffles their schedules all the time. I wouldn't be surprised if they just shift stuff around.

Or they just expand the studio a bit, because Mario is gonna make all kinds of money