Video game movies are finally on the rise. Yes, they’ve been around for decades at this point, but until recently, we hadn’t had much of a runaway hit. While Pokémon: Detective Pikachu seemed like the most likely contender to take the crown, it still only did “solid” as far as the box office is concerned. Sonic the Hedgehog was the most unlikely of successes. While its numbers have only slightly outperformed Detective Pikachu, it’s made up for it with its significantly smaller budget, making it a huge success for all parties involved. Conditions seem perfect for a Super Mario Bros. movie.
But do people actually want a Super Mario Bros. movie? After all, there’s a reason why we haven’t gotten one in decades. That initial live-action pretty much decimated the possibility of a live-action Super Mario Bros. movie, along with any other live-action Nintendo movie period, for decades. As it turns out, yes. People DO want a movie featuring everyone’s favorite Italian plumber.
Morning Consult asked 2,200 adults about whether or not they’d want live-action adaptations of various video games. The various game properties they asked about were extensive. Among them were Halo, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, The Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Bros., Pacman, Minecraft, Tetris, Spyro, Donkey Kong, Fortnite, Pong, and more!
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Out of all of those, Super Mario Bros. was the runaway winner, with 44% of people either were “very interested” or “somewhat interested” in seeing the plumbers come to life on the big screen. That’s right, it even beat out some of those big franchises that are already all kinds of cinematic.
This really goes to show the amount of faith Nintendo has garnered over the decades, with Mario still managing to come out on top as one of the highlights. The fact that Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario’s former rival, has done so well, bodes well for the plumber’s future on the big screen.
As we already know, there is an animated Mario movie in the works from Illumination Entertainment. As such, audiences won’t have to wait long until they get to see him grace the silver screen once again. That being said, I can’t say I’m overly thrilled for the film. While I have faith that Illumination will make a “solid” movie, I don’t think the odds are in their favor for them to make a “really good” Mario movie.
From the get-go, Illumination’s strategy has been to make cost-effective movies with mass appeal. This leads to them generally being pretty safe. Entertaining enough, but safe. Will this Mario movie appeal? Yes. Will we see it coming? Yes. But I don’t see it breaking any creativity banks any time soon.
Are you looking forward to Super Mario Bros.? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below! And also tell us what video games you’d like to see adapted for the big screen.
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SOURCE: Morning Consult
