Illumination Entertainment, the absolute geniuses behind the likes of the Despicable Me and Minions movies, as well as The Secret Life Of Pets, are set to make a new animated movie based on the 30+ year old video game series Super Mario Brothers. The news comes from the Wall Street Journal who report that Universal Pictures, who co-own Illumination Entertainment, is close to an agreement with Nintendo Co. to make an animated “Super Mario Bros.” movie ‘based on the 32-year-old videogame series about a pair of sibling plumbers who fight evil turtles and mushrooms in a fantasy kingdom, said people with knowledge of the discussions.’ More on the new Super Mario Brothers Movie below.
New Super Mario Brothers Movie In The Mix At Illumination?
The Super Mario Brothers series has shifted over 330 million units total for Ninitendo in the years since it first landed on consoles in the 1980s, so it’s no surprise that a new film is in the offing. Let’s face it, Illumination are one of the best animation houses out there at the moment, so they’re more than perfect to bring a new Super Mario Brothers movie to the screen.
The WSJ go on to say that a Nintendo spokesman declined to comment, as did an Illumination spokeswoman, but we’re more than excited at the prospect.
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They add that a hurdle between Illumination and Nintendo has been making the Japanese video game company feel confident it will be involved enough in the creative process, said one person close to the talks.
The characters, or any Nintendo character in fact, haven’t been seen on the big-screen since the disastrous Super Mario Brothers movie in 1993 which starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo.
We think enough time has passed for this to be pretty much forgotten. Video games have not had a good run in recent times – if ever, either – but if anyone can make it work, it’s definitely Illumination.
We’ll bring you more as we get it.
