Nintendo has planned a 2022 release date for a new CG-animated Super Mario movie in a bid to reach an ever-wider audience.
Mario is already said to be more readily recognisable than Mickey Mouse, but Nintendo has expressed a desire to push that envelope even further with the release of a new animated movie about the mushroom-muncher himself. In their most recent Corporate Management Policy Briefing, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has discussed the upcoming theatrical release.
Nintendo is working together with Universal Pictures and Illumination, creators of Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, and Minions, to bring Mario to the big screen. The film is being co-produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of basically everything Nintendo holds dear, who will hopefully be instrumental in avoiding a repeat of the disastrous Super Mario Bros. film released in 1993.
Nintendo reports that production is proceeding smoothly, and the film will only be the first in a new lineup of “… multiple other visual content expansion projects” which have already been embarked upon. They note that these initiatives “may not be limited to film”, though what other visual content they could be aspiring to unleash upon the world, we can only guess.
Details about a potential plot line for the upcoming Super Mario movie are unknown at this point, but Illumination’s founder Chris Meledandri seems like he’s aware of the challenges and pitfalls inherent in working with such a beloved character.
In a 2018 interview with Variety, he said that “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.”
It seems like the Mario movie is in good hands, then. And while we wait for whatever tidbits Nintendo chooses to drop, we’ve got plenty of our favourite mustachioed plumber to keep us entertained.
