It’s learned an animated Super Mario Bros. movie is in the works from Illumination.
Variety reports Illumination founder Chris Meledandri has the animated Super Mario Bros. movie in “priority development” and could be released in theaters by 2022.
While the live-action film released in 1993 starring John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins as the brothers Mario and Luigi was pretty bad, Meledandri says he will involve the game’s creator, something the movie didn’t.
“We are keeping him front and center in the creation of this film,” said Meledandri. “I’ve rarely seen that happen with any adaptation where the original creative voice is being embraced like we’re embracing [Shigeru] Miyamoto. There’s a history in Hollywood of people believing that they know better than the people responsible for a property. I’ve made that mistake before.”
Meledandri added, “It’s an ambitious task. 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.”
Illumination is behind such hits as Despicable Me and Minions and also has The Grinch coming out this weekend featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of the titular character and has Pharrell Williams as the narrator.
