More details on the Super Mario Bros animated film emerge.

If you can believe it, it’s been almost three years since it was first announced we were getting an animated Super Mario Bros movie. The first report came from The Wall Street Journal back in November of 2017, and in the years since then, we haven’t heard a lot. Back in 2018, we heard the film could come in 2020. Little did we know what this year had in store for us. Though, for what it’s worth, it’s not like the film would have actually been done anyway. 

But what actual progress has been made in this time? Well, Nintendo recently had a corporate management policy briefing. In the midst of the super-sexy briefing was some news regarding the film, which is being produced by Illumination Entertainment (of Despicable Me fame). According to Nintendo (via GamesRadar), the film will hit theaters in 2022. “Production is moving ahead smoothly,” the Big N reported, which is, of course, great news. 

Also, worth pointing out is that Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto is apparently heavily involved in the film. I’m both happy and sad to hear this. I’m slightly concerned because no matter how much of a legend Miyamoto is, story isn’t exactly his forte. That being said, he would be crucial to ensuring the tone of the film matches that of the video games. So long as he is involved on that level and maybe the base premise, I’m good.

It also doesn’t help that Miyamoto was never a huge fan of a movie to begin with. As Miyamoto stated earlier this year, he only signed on because he saw the potential to help increase the character’s reach.

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“Basically, it’s not that ‘I want to make a Mario movie’, but that I began to consider that ‘we should bring more Nintendo content into the field of video-making’,” he explained. “With films, the amount of people who would contact our IP would widen, and increase the amount of people engaging with our IP. Then, we’d be able to further increase the spread of our media via video.”

Given his involvement, I’d like to think his enthusiasm has changed on some level. If nothing else, he can work to guarantee a consistency in style between the games and the Super Mario Bros animated film. The brand certainly has potential to go all sorts of directions, though, especially since the Mario name has been attached to so many different types of games.

Personally, I would love the studio to go a more Paper Mario-esque route. We could get a more epic story, a larger cast of characters, and fun, tongue-in-cheek humor that pokes fun at its style — kind of like The LEGO Movie. 

Regardless, I recommend you mark your calendars for 2022. Barring any complications, I’d say that puts us squarely outside of the pandemic window, which is refreshing to say in a time where the pandemic affects everything. I, for one, can’t wait to see what sort of creative stuff they come up with for the Super Mario Bros animated film. 

What do you hope to see from Nintendo and Illumination? Sound off down below!

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SOURCE: GamesRadar, IGN