Nintendo announces Mario movie from Illumination Entertainment

The two biggest entertainment mediums in the world have been trying to collaborate for years on various video game movie adaptations but rarely do they ever happen and when they do, they usually flop in a spectacularly embarrassing fashion.

One of these attempts was way back in the 1990s when a live action Super Mario Bros. movie was released. We won’t go too deep into it because we try to forget about it as much as possible but it was a massive failure and has been ridiculed for decades since. Nintendo is looking to try again another Hollywood take on Mario but this time, in more caring hands.

Today, Nintendo officially announced that an untitled animated Mario movie is in the works at the studio behind the Despicable Me franchise, Illumination Entertainment. This confirms the rumors that we’ve been hearing since November and relieves some tension based off teases from Nintendo themselves. There likely won’t be a cross-over between the Minions and the Italian plumber as Mario co-creator and Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto will be co-producing the film alongside Despicable Me producer Chris Meledandri.

No release date, plot details, or casting were revealed but this is a great play for Nintendo as Mario has peaked in popularity for the first time in a while. The iconic video game character recently made waves with his new Nintendo Switch exclusive game Super Mario Odyssey which garnered dozens of perfect review scores, game of the year nominations, and over 9 million units sold within the first three months of release.

No brand new standalone Mario games have been announced but Nintendo Switch players will be able to play as him in the all-new Mario tennis games later this year. We’ll keep you posted if we learn any more details regarding the upcoming Mario film from Illumination Entertainment.