Super Mario Brothers, Mario and Luigi are to get the big screen animated treatment, turning the two hero plumbers into film stars after the 1993 live-action version took quite a bit of a belly dive.
Illumination Entertainment, who are behind the popular Despicable Me and Minions franchise, are currently in talks with Nintendo to give the iconic video game characters a new breath of life.
Nintendo first released Super Mario Bros in 1985 on the NES, The Super Mario games follow Mario’s adventures, typically in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom with Mario as the player character. He is usually joined by his brother, Luigi, and occasionally by other members of the Mario cast. As in platform video games, the player runs and jumps across platforms and atop enemies in themed levels. The games have simple plots, typically with Mario rescuing the kidnapped Princess Peach from the primary antagonist, Bowser.
This isn’t the first time the brothers ventured onto the big screen, Nintendo agreed a deal with Disney which saw Bob Hoskins take on the role of Mario and John Leguizamo play Luigi in the live-action version in which they had to save Princess Daisy from Denis Hooper’s King Koopa. A sequel had been written but due to the poor showing at the box office Nintendo conceded defeat and cancelled plans for a follow-up.
We could be in for a long wait for the film to materialise though; it is said that the project is in very early stages of development with Illumination’s Mac Gruff studio.
Nintendo hasn’t done too badly off the back of the Super Mario Bros. to date, the games and there relating spin-offs have sold over 330 million units and they have also completed deals with Universal Parks and Resorts to build attractions based on the two characters. Could Illumination’s expertise in the family fun animation game give them the much sort after movie success they want? Time will tell.
