( ENSPIRE Entertainment ) Illumination’s “The Super Mario Brothers Movie”, In Theaters Everywhere
ENSPIRE Contributor: Daniel Garritson
On April 5th, “The Super Mario Brothers Movie” was released in theaters worldwide. Born from a collaboration with Japanese video game company Nintendo and American animation studio Illumination, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” finally came to theaters after 5 years of development. The film is already breaking records, as it has seen the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film, already grossing $377 million dollars on a $100 million budget.
The film stars Chris Pratt, who also played Emmett in “The Lego Movie” and its sequel, and Starlord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Mario. His brother, Luigi, is played by Charlie Day, known for his character Charlie Kelly on the comedy show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. The brothers, Brooklyn natives, find a mysterious pipe within the city’s sewers, which transports them to the fantastical world of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Alongside them, Anya Taylor-Joy plays Princess Peach, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. Keegan Michael Key plays Toad, a comedic character who wears a mushroom on his head. The cast of heroes is opposed by Bowser, played by Jack Black, who hopes to win Peach’s affection by conquering the world. Charles Martinet, the original voice actor for Mario in the video game “Super Mario 64”, voices several background characters.
Donkey Kong is played by Seth Rogan, who has expressed interest in a solo Donkey Kong film. Illumination director Chris Meledandri has stated that, while their priority has been to create a fun film and release it simply, he and executives at Nintendo have discussed a future for more Mario movies. Charlie Day has also expressed an interest in a movie based on the first game to star his character Luigi, “Luigi’s Mansion”.
A hidden scene at the end of the film’s credits shows a white egg with green spots, which cracks before the screen fades to black. Fans of Nintendo games will likely recognize this egg as belonging to the colorful dinosaur character Yoshi, and these same fans are speculating on a possible sequel where Yoshi joins Mario and his friends on a new adventure.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is available now in theaters worldwide. Forty-five days after release, the film will become available on the Peacock streaming service. The film will find its way to Netflix in late 2023.
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