Mario Movie by Illumination

That headline's worded weirdly.

I'm gonna need context.

Does that mean Nintendo, not Universal or Comcast, will be able to do as they please with the movie? Like let it stream wherever they want?

Here's what Nintendo's financial briefing said:

If I understand this correctly, Universal would be the ones who would decide what streaming platforms it would be released on, as they're the ones handling distribution.

So Nintendo owns the movie, but Universal owns Distribution basically. So Illumination is technically a Studio Nintendo outsourced their work to.

Hey, if it means Illumination's usual trappings of toilet humor and Minions get put a minimum, I won't complain.

Someone should tell Sega that this is how you make sure your movie based on an important mascot should be handled.

Guess that means Nintendo will own any new character made for the film.

Edited by Cortez on Feb 21st 2020 at 6:58:01 AM

Shigeru Miyamoto shares his experience with the one moment he trusted Illumination with the Mario movie.

What could Meledandri's failure be?

I hypothesize that it might've been The Lorax or The Grinch (2018) while leaning more towards Lorax.

(But didn't those movies make bank, despite the bad/eh reviews?)

Yeah, they did. But maybe he regrets them when looking back at them in retrospect.

The Lorax in particular was pretty lame in how little it gave attention to the titular character or how its marketing missed the point entirely. (Among other hiccups, like the Dawson Casting, the unintended memes, the Base-Breaking nature of the Once-ler.)

Meanwhile, The Grinch, while it ironed out a big chunk of The Lorax's issues, still became considered inferior in comparison to the other Grinch adaptations.

Not only that, but it holds the distinction of being the last Dr. Seuss thing released by Universal before the Dr. Seuss estate resolved to partner with Warner Bros., leading to the Green Eggs and Ham series on Netflix, which seems to have managed to blow the previous Dr. Seuss adaptations out of the water.

Despite this talk of regret, it's all probably going to be moot until we actually see where they're going with Mario. Hopefully, Nintendo is keeping a close enough eye on the production that it won't be scrutinized as badly as the Sonic movie was before its facelift.

I don't know.

I actually enjoyed movie!Sonic being allowed to feel sad and depressed. Compared to Game!Sonic where Sega will never allow him to be anything other than slightly annoyed at worst.

I mean, if that were actually true...then sure.

I think the OP was referring to how that first design almost killed the movie over how ugly and un-Sonic it looked that it needed the movie to get delayed to this year to fix it up.

The movie itself is actually a rather solid origin story for the Blue Blur and the Bad Doctor. Plus, it benefited tons with the second design (and cameo of Tails).

I wonder when we'll see a clip.

x2 Which in itself is kind of an apple and orange comparison as this is Nintendo’s second attempt at a Mario movie and they don’t want a repeat like 1993.

The Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW) comic mandates are in-line with how Sega wants Sonic characters to be portrayed, among them that Sonic can't cry or show strong emotion.

Edited by lalalei2001 on Mar 11th 2020 at 2:32:45 AM

Grant Kirkhope still wants to do the Mario movie's music.

Nintendo seems to be pretty happy with the way things are going so far because the normally insular company is publicly discussing more animated works if this movie goes well. Considering that their media output outside of games has been extremely restricted since their early days (essentially after the original Super Mario Bros film Ba-bombed at the box office, they've avoided using their flagship characters in media outside of games and advertising) it represents something of a tonal shift from the company.

That *IS* an interesting development. Makes me want to see the Mario trailer even more...

I'd probably forgive the constant shoving of Minions down my throat if it meant we'd see the Mario trailer at some point this year.

Edited by TargetmasterJoe on May 4th 2021 at 2:52:32 AM

Here's hoping for a Legend of Zelda animated series in the future.

I'd like a Kirby, Metroid or Stafox movie. Mostly Kirby.

On Nintendo's earnings report under Director Change: the CEO of Illumination Entertainment Chris Meledandri has been nominated into becoming an Outside Director for Nintendo.

If they are bringing in Illumination's CEO, then they have heavyconfidence in the Mario movie.

I wonder if Daisy will be in the film, even as a cameo.

I said this over on the Video Games forum but I'll say it here as well: Meledandri's appointment is a hint Nintendo is serious about wanting to get into the film/TV production business.

While I don't think Nintendo will go all-in with Universal/Illumination since it wouldn't make much sense from a business standpoint, I have to imagine that Meledandri will have some sort of input on future Nintendo media projects (think, executive producer).

In a recent interview, Sebastian Maniscalco (The Irishman) noted that he'll be playing Foreman Spike from Wrecking Crew for this film. Here, he's stated to be Mario's boss.

At the 1:35:13 mark:

This is looking to be an Origin Story for Mario.

Foreman Spike is one heck of a deep cut.

The '93 Mario movie also had Spike as a character, but named after the common enemy, who's also made a comeback recently in spinoffs and sports titles.

Time is a circle. XD