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Sony Working on a Super Mario Bros. Movie?

by Curtis Bonds - December 12, 2014, 3:27 pm EST
Total comments: 15 Source: Buzzfeed

The idea sounds clean and dirty at the same time.

Nintendo and Sony Pictures are working on an animated Super Mario Bros. movie, following the ongoing massive leak of e-mails from the movie studio.

While nothing is officially greenlit, the e-mails suggest that film producer Avi Arad recently acquired the rights to produce animated films based on Super Mario as of October 23 of this year. “I am the proud father of mario the animated film" said Arad in an e-mail to Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal. Arad then forwarded Pascal photos of him with Shigeru Miyamoto and Satoru Iwata. Pascal forwarded these e-mails to Tom Rothman, chairman of the Sony-owned TriStar Pictures, and added "Avi closed Mario brothers, animated."

The e-mails also include Arad thanking Michelle Raimo Kouyate, the President of Production at Sony Pictures Animation, for a gift basket filled with Mario merchandise, with replies from Koutate of wanting to "build a Mario empire!” and that she "can think of 3-4 movies right out of the gate on this. So huge!”. There are also talks of bringing on Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of the cartoons Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack, as director of the film.

Nintendo and Sony Pictures have yet to officially comment.

Talkback

Triforce HermitDecember 12, 2014

Sounds horrifying. I hope this happens.

AdrockDecember 12, 2014

If they got Genndy Tartakovsky to direct the film, there's a decent chance it wouldn't be awful though I'm admittedly biased as I loved Decter's Laboratory. It is strange that Nintendo would even entertain collaborating with Sony Pictures on this. I realize that Sony's movie and video game divisions are largely considered separate, but it's still Sony. I would have imagined Nintendo listening to Avi Arad's pitch then getting Disney on the phone right afterwards.

Ian SaneDecember 12, 2014

If this happens we need to get the PlayStation 4 exclusive Super Mario: The Movie: The Game! ...and it needs to be made by whatever jackasses made Hotel Mario.

SorenDecember 12, 2014

BlackNMild talked about this on the Sony topic in General Chat, and I agree with him: a Nintendo Universe movie like the LEGO movie would seem to be much more interesting than just a Mario themed movie.

BlackNMild2k1December 12, 2014

^ here is the whole post with everything quoted in the Sony Leak thread

Quote from: BlackNMild2k1

Quote from: Soren

Sony making a Mario Bros. animated movie?

http://kotaku.com/report-sony-making-super-mario-bros-cartoon-1670192558/all

Quote:

The film, which the emails say will be animated, is only in the very earliest stages of production, with no personnel currently attached (though there are daydreams that Samurai Jack's Genndy Tartakovsky might be tempted).

Quote:

Yet the Buzzfeed report says they "could not find any emails in which anyone at Sony Pictures expressed concern about any conflicts with their video game corporate cousin Sony Computer Entertainment, which is a direct competitor with Nintendo."

Thinking this over, I really can't picture a compelling Mario 3D animated movie....

now if they did a Samus/Metroid movie, a Link/Zelda movie or maybe even a StarFox movie.... or better yet, a Nintendoverse movie in the vein of maybe The LEGO Movie, where Mario gets caught up in a whimsical adventure that takes him into all sorts of shit and lands in him all of Nintendo's properties to resolve it, involving all he comes across, then maybe that will work. But just Mario & Luigi.... in the mushroom kingdom.... I'm just not seeing it.

what will be interesting though, is who get the game rights to the movie? and will it appear on a system other than a Nintendo one?

I would probably watch it, and the only other studio I see doing it right would be Disney, but Disney couldn't come up with a good reason to cameo Mario himself in the Wreck It Ralph movie.  And for the life of me, I couldn't come up with compelling story for a Mario centric movie that only involved the "Mario" IP. So like I previously said, IMHO a Nintendoverse game spanning all properties like The LEGO Movie seems the best route to take.

and seeing what Genndy has done with CG animation (Hotel Transylvania and that Popeye test trailer), I'm all down for him heading it up.

AdrockDecember 12, 2014

So pretty much what The Subspace Emissary should have been? Super Smash Bros. would be a really good tie-in for such a movie. Maybe Nintendo and Sony Pictures can hold off until Sakurai gets his sanity back.

And sweet Jebus, I spelled "Dexter's" wrong...

Infinitys_EndDecember 12, 2014

They basically shoot themselves in the foot by not doing jack shit with their Metroid IP.  EVERYONE FUCKING WANTS IT NINTENDO.  WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU.

So this is being run by the guy who wrecked Spiderman?

Sounds legit.

pokepal148Spencer Johnson, Contributing WriterDecember 13, 2014

I don't think Sony can reach the high bar set by the last Mario movie

http://youtu.be/wtMZKYnLg5c

They'd have to make a movie so disgustingly bad that every sane, normal human being AND Jonathan Metts would hate it.

yoshi1001December 13, 2014

Well, if it's animated, at worst they'll lose less money than the last Mario movie. I suppose now this'll definitely mean the HD transfer of the '93 movie will be coming over to piggyback on the buzz for this one.

TurdFurgyDecember 13, 2014

I had written down some basic thoughts about what a CG Mario film could be about a few months ago. Hope it's alright if I link it. http://turdfurgy.tumblr.com/post/95220178492/pixars-mario-bros-quick-and-dirty-thoughts
It's fairly relevant I'd say.

MythtendoDecember 14, 2014

Quote from: Shaymin

So this is being run by the guy who wrecked Spiderman?

Sounds legit.

I haven't seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but the first Amazing Spider-Man movie was pretty good.

broodwarsDecember 14, 2014

Quote from: Mythtendo

Quote from: Shaymin

So this is being run by the guy who wrecked Spiderman?

Sounds legit.

I haven't seen The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but the first Amazing Spider-Man movie was pretty good.

The second movie isn't bad, but it is a mess that reeks of studio interference.

StratosDecember 16, 2014

I think Nintendo should have collaborated with Disney. If Disney could get some form of ownership over Nintendo most of my childhood nostalgia will be under the control of one company.

BlackNMild2k1December 17, 2014

Disney had an opportunity to put Mario in Wreck it Ralph, but they couldn't think of a good reason for him to be there in the movie w/o it just being a random ass pointless cameo for cameo sake.

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