Reggie Fils-Aimé Promises a Faithful ‘Super Mario’ Animated Movie
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé has noted that Nintendo will be very much involved in the planned Super Mario adaptation being developed by Illumination Entertainment, and that they will do everything they can to make sure that the new movie will get things right where the live-action movie didn’t back in the 1990s.
Speaking to IGN, Fils-Aimé explained that Nintendo’s decision to license out its brands more is something they’re taking very seriously as the company expands beyond video games and merchandise tied to those games as their only sources of revenue. Nintendo seems to be teaming up with Universal for movie projects (with their subsidiary Legendary working on a live-action Detective Pikachu movie with Ryan Reynolds as the voice of the title character), with the talk of the town being an animated Super Mario project from Illumination. He explained:
“”We see ourselves as making worldwide consumers smile through our intellectual property. Fundamentally, we do that four ways. We do it with mobile. We do it with our licensed relationships with other companies [like Kellog’s]… We have other entertainment, which is where we put Universal Studios and Illumination. Then we have our dedicated video game business. This is a key part of our strategy. This is an area we are having a range of conversations. Just like we did for the other big two partnerships, when we have something to announce, we will.
Fils-Aimé noted that series creator Shigeru Miyamoto is heavily involved with conversations about the kind of route that Illumination should pursue with their adaptation, with the goal ultimately being to create a movie that’s a treat for longtime fans and people unfamiliar with the source material. Considering that video game movies tend to be not that great, knowing that there’s a lot of commitment toward getting Nintendo’s most iconic IP right is definitely reassuring. Here’s hoping that they pull it off.
Super Mario is in development at Illumination Entertainment.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
