A new Super Mario Bros. movie is something fans have wanted for almost thirty years now. With confirmation that Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo have continued production work on the film, it now looks like Nintendo is ready to put an end to that wait come 2022 and finally erase the horrid 90's live action Mario from everyone's memory.
The source is none other than Nintendo themselves, as shown in a “Policy Briefing” made public today, in which the company not only confirmed plans to have the film released in 2022, but also highlighted that its distribution will fall onto Universal Pictures, who is financing the project alongside the Japanese giant.
The corporate documents also detail some of Nintendo’s plans for the future, with the main goal being expansion of the company’s brand to multiple markets with a specific focus on merchandising, mobile games, Nintendo’s own theme park and, of course, visual content such as the Super Mario movie.
Very much worth noting is that the memo states how “going forward, visual content expansion initiatives may not be limited to film”, which hints at the future possibility of Mario making other appearances, or even him not being the only Nintendo character making the jump from video games to other media.
With production and development of the Super Mario movie going along smoothly and according to schedule, the next big announcement related to the company’s side projects should be a Super Nintendo World theme park opening date. Of course, after a perceived lackluster 2020, the only part of this briefing hardcore fans will be focused on will be any upcoming games featured in the Nintendo Direct mini announced at the end of the presentation.
After years packed with rumors regarding the Super Mario movie, it is now more real than it ever was. An expected 2022 release says a lot about Nintendo’s strategy to make headway into new forms of video entertainment. Of course, Nintendo has tried to grow its star properties past games before, with mixed results. Sure, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show had its charms, but The Legend of Zelda cartoon series is best forgotten. Still, Nintendo's catalog is rich with potential. A Metroid movie or Captain Toad Adventures TV show? Yes, please.
Super Mario is scheduled for release in 2022.
Source: Nintendo