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Nintendo Movies Entertainment Games

Nintendo Is Making An Animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, Says Report (gizmodo.com) 71

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.
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Nintendo Is Making An Animated Super Mario Bros. Movie, Says Report

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  • as if there wasn't enough rule 34 to choke a sperm whale
    • by TWX ( 665546 ) on Wednesday November 15, 2017 @09:10AM (#55553773)

      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.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Princess!!

      • What do you mean? Princess peach or princess Daisy?

  • ...as the last one [youtube.com] tried to kill Bob Hoskins.

    • It can't possibly be worse. Mario wouldn't even jump in that movie.

      • by TWX ( 665546 )

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

  • There have already been animated Mario features such as this one:

    https://www.mariowiki.com/Supe... [mariowiki.com]!

    Nintendo was right to protect their franchises after the North American live movie as well as the Philips CDi Mario and Zelda games. They do partner with others on games such as Mario + Rabbids, but they have more oversight and communicate often. That seems fair.

  • Aiming low (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Wednesday November 15, 2017 @09:19AM (#55553831)

    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 [imdb.com].

    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.

    • I want Zelda (Score:4, Interesting)

      by XXongo ( 3986865 ) on Wednesday November 15, 2017 @09:30AM (#55553897) Homepage
      Skip Mario-- I want the Legend of Zelda movie!
      • Re:I want Zelda (Score:4, Interesting)

        by DontBeAMoran ( 4843879 ) on Wednesday November 15, 2017 @09:38AM (#55553963)

        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.

        • What would really kick ass, if done correctly...

          Yeah-- there's always a catch, isn't there.

        • by Rei ( 128717 )

          Metroid was really groundbreaking in the fact that not only was the main character female (extremely rare at that time), but that they let you get through the entire game before revealing this fact. The series also had a rather quiet, solemn atmosphere for what was otherwise a scrolling platformer - something that would probably translate well to the screen. The problem with turning video games to movies is flushing out the characters. We know what Samus *does* in the game, who the antagonists are, etc.

          • by Hydrian ( 183536 )

            I agree Metroid could be good in the right hands. The only director I could see doing this well is Ridley Scott. He knows how to get the atmosphere of the movie right and the obviously the creatures.

            As for as actresses playing Samus, the actress that first pops into my my head is Scarlett Johansson. She knows the action movie genre and has a good look for the part. Also she understands how to physically talk with her moments in a low dialogue movie.

            • by Rei ( 128717 )

              Yeah, she would be good as Samus. I have trouble with the "pick an actor/actress for a role" things because my mind immediately jumps to "who would be the worst person to cast for the role. Rosie O'Donnell! Dame Judy Dench! Paris Hilton! Snooki! Once I start thinking down that route, all serious possibilities disappear ;)

            • by Rei ( 128717 )

              Oh, and as for the atmosphere, I picture something sort of like "Avatar meets Alien". Aka, really inventive with the alien landscapes and creatures in a way that feels like a natural, integrated whole - but instead of Avatar's "Ferngully"-style motif on top of it, having that a grimy cyberpunk feel. Less "in harmony with the mother goddess", more "nature red in tooth and claw", integrated in with advanced but decrepit spacecraft, weaponry and facilities. Hmm... you know, the feel of "Ghost in the Shell: S

            • > The only director I could see doing this well is Ridley Scott.

              >...

              > As for as actresses playing Samus, the actress that first pops into my my head is Scarlett Johansson.

              I was thinking Sigourney Weaver [wikia.com].

              • by Hydrian ( 183536 )

                I think she'd be a good person for the part if she was younger. I'm not talking in a hollywood sense. I'm talking that she nearly 70 and her being an active bounty hunter seems a bit off which Samus is not. If they wanted to use Sigourney for a middle-aged veteran bounty hunter, I'm all for it. I just don't think she a slam dunk for the Samus part.

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            But who is she as a person? Without filling that in, you just get a one-dimensional action movie.

            Which sadly is enough for at least 5 Transformers movies.

            Nintendo could do a Pixar with this one. Mario is the most family friendly character in gaming... When Peach invites him over to eat some cake, they really do just eat some cake.

        • by jandrese ( 485 )
          On the other hand, the last time they went story heavy with a Metroid title we got The Other M" and a whole lot of Samus Daddy Issues.
          • by Rei ( 128717 )

            I think one can safely write that one out of the canon ;)

            I'm thinking something that covers the timeperiod starting most of the way through Metroid 2, ending at the end of Super Metroid. Because then you start with someone who's a stone-cold killer and loner, somewhere between a warrior monk and a special forces sniper. But then you humanize her as she bonds with the metroid hatchling - only to have it die in the end.

            You'd still have to incorporate other characters, mind you - I don't think "A girl and he

        • Man, I've been saying this for years. I'd love to see this done, if like you said, was done correctly.
        • Re:I want Zelda (Score:4, Interesting)

          by Jason Levine ( 196982 ) on Wednesday November 15, 2017 @12:01PM (#55555179) Homepage

          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.)

        • You mean the Alien franchise?
    • Psh, that movie was awesome. The guy who played President Koopa did an amazing job, and pretty much all of the acting was dead on. It had enough comic relief and memorable moments to turn it into a timeless classic.

      "Hey, can you do that again? The way your knuckles smashed into my face?" "............ dance with me."

      A lot of unexplained stuff (how the heck did they know about the parallel dimension? I guess they had the whole meteor to begin with and could pass through) and it didn't hold true to s

      • by Rakarra ( 112805 )

        The Mario movie was terrible, but there was a good reason. The filmmakers went for a grittier, darker tone (think Tim Burton's Batman) and it focused on family -- Mario's relationship with Luigi. Just a few weeks before filming, the studio stepped in a demanded an entire new script. The new script was extremely half-baked and not what the filmmakers or actors originally signed on to do. The sets were already made, and it feels like there's a total disconnect between the surroundings and the actors, because

        • I liked how the movie turned out. It's kind of silly and comical, and it's baked into this darker and edgier atmosphere. The juxtaposition isn't awkward, and the acting really is excellent. They managed to work through the ham-fisted stuff better than a lot of modern crap that just doesn't fit together at all: a few scenes are jarring, but nothing screams "discontinuity" too badly.

  • Video game movies suck. Worse than that, they distract Nintendo from doing the two things people actually want: ship MORE GAMES for your existing consoles (currently the Wii U and the Switch) and ship MORE CLASSIC CONSOLES from when the good old days when Nintendo and it's licensees did ship a lot of games.
    • >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.

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

        Not just the source material, but adherence to the source material. The movie adaptations of games that make it are the ones that have a solid story to begin with.

        Mortal Kombat was good because they kept true to the games premise - a tournament on a remote island hosted by a crazy sorcerer bent on stealing souls. Tomb Raider actually felt a lot like "female Indiana Jones" which is more or less what the games are. As for Mario Bros: Goombas are not 7 feet tall and 300+ pounds, Bowser is reptilian, and the Mu

    • Resident Evil
    • by Merk42 ( 1906718 )
      The people from Nintendo involved in this movie are the exact same people that are developers and also manufacturers?
  • ..they made lotsa spaghetti!

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