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Nintendo Is Making An Animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, Says Report (gizmodo.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the in-the-pipeline dept.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Nintendo has made a deal with Illumination Entertainment -- the animation studio that makes the Despicable Me movies -- to make an animated Super Mario Bros. movie. The film is currently in "early development," but the report comes as a surprise given how protective Nintendo is of their intellectual properties. Gizmodo reports: According to the report, the companies have been in negotiations for a year and the fact Universal (which finances and distributes Illumination's movie) has partnered with Nintendo for several theme parks was helpful. Right now, the deal is one for one movie, but there is potential for more. Of course, Nintendo is almost laughably protective of their intellectual properties, especially after the disastrous 1993 live action Super Mario Bros. movie. They've made Pokemon movies but, beyond that, rumors of movies based on Mario and The Legend of Zelda have been around for years. This is the vide game company's first big move forward in a long time, and the implications are extremely significant.

7 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. Re:there goes the neighborhood by TWX · · Score: 3, Funny

    as if there wasn't enough rule 34 to choke a sperm whale

    Funny enough, I believe there's rule 34 of that too, making for one of the most disturbing recursions imaginable.

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    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  2. Aiming low by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You know, most movies today are remakes, rehashes or reboots. And they suffer from one fatal flaw: They have to stand against a timeless classic, a masterpiece that has entertained generations before, that people remember fondly and that even draws a lot of viewers whenever a rerun is shown on TV. Why? Because you only make remakes and reboots of successful movies.

    This movie, though, will have to stand against this.

    And 2 hours of Mario jumping and saying "Itsa me, Mario!" would beat that in story, credibility, faithfulness to the original material, acting and general entertainment.

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. I want Zelda by XXongo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Skip Mario-- I want the Legend of Zelda movie!

    1. Re:I want Zelda by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What would really kick ass, if done correctly, is a Metroid movie trilogy. Samus is not a D-cup bimbo hero so I hope they pick accordingly.

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      #DeleteFacebook
    2. Re:I want Zelda by Jason+Levine · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Forget a Legend of Zelda movie. How about an animated Legend of Zelda series on Netflix? Have the story arc planned out and start Link from plucky farm boy "chosen one" to his quest to save Zelda. You can flesh the story out and take your time with it more than a movie ever could. (I'm thinking something like the current Voltron reboot on Netflix.)

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      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  4. Re:Make more GAMES. Ship more CONSOLES. by Baron_Yam · · Score: 2

    >Video game movies suck.

    Mortal Kombat (I) was excellent. Not Oscar-worthy, for sure, but so far above the standard for the genre I have to wonder why they did it (but I'm glad they did). Tomb Raider wasn't bad, either. I like Street Fighter, but I'll grant you that other than Raul's performance it was crap. The Mario Brothers live action... I don't know what they were thinking.

    Video game-based movies are like any other movie... quality varies based on the source material, budget, and talent involved.

  5. Re:Hope it's better than the last one... by TWX · · Score: 2

    Yeah, I loved that line from Honest Trailers, something to the effect of, "Jump! It's like, the only thing you do!"

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    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.