The Super Mario Bros. Movie Trivia | 60 facts about the new film

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is a new animated film based on the popular Nintendo characters and seems to be a box office sensation.

So let’s find out some trivia and facts about the film.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a 2023 American computer-animated adventure film
It is based on Nintendo’s Mario video game franchise
Produced by Illumination, Universal Pictures, and Nintendo, and distributed by Universal
It was directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic
From a screenplay by Matthew Fogel
The ensemble voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Charles Martinet, and Kevin Michael Richardson
The film features an origin story for the brothers Mario and Luigi, Italian-American plumbers who are transported to an alternate world
They become entangled in a battle between the Mushroom Kingdom, led by Princess Peach, and the Koopas, led by Bowser
After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 live-action Mario film, Nintendo became reluctant to license one of its intellectual properties for film adaptations
Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto became interested in developing another film when Nintendo was bringing its older games to the Virtual Console service
Through Nintendo’s work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create Super Nintendo World, he met Illumination founder Chris Meledandri
By 2016, the two were discussing a Mario film and, in January 2018, Nintendo announced that it would collaborate with Illumination and Universal to produce it
Production was underway by 2020, and the cast was announced in September 2021
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was theatrically released in the United States on April 5, 2023
The film has grossed $93 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics
After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film adaptation, Japanese video game company Nintendo became wary of licensing its properties for film adaptations
According to Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the idea for a new Mario film came from bringing their older games to the Virtual Console and other services
Such transitions took time for the company, and Miyamoto recognized that “our content business would be able to develop even further if we were able to combine our long-beloved software with that of video assets, and utilize them together for extended periods”
Miyamoto knew that the process of making a film was far different from that of making a video game, and wanted a film expert to lead the effort
Following the November 2014 hack of Sony Pictures, emails between producer Avi Arad, studio chief Amy Pascal, TriStar Pictures head Tom Rothman, and Sony Pictures Animation president of production Michelle Raimo Kouyate were released, revealing that Sony had been attempting to secure the film rights to the Mario franchise for several years
Arad visited Nintendo in Tokyo in February and July 2014 in an attempt to secure a deal
In October, Arad emailed Pascal and said he had closed the deal with Nintendo. Pascal suggested recruiting Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania director Genndy Tartakovsky to help develop the project
However, after the emails leaked, Arad denied that a deal had been made, stating that negotiations had only begun
BuzzFeed News noted that the emails did not take into account potential conflicts with Sony Pictures’ corporate sibling Sony Interactive Entertainment, one of Nintendo’s chief competitors
Through Nintendo’s work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create Mario-based attractions, later resulting in Super Nintendo World, Miyamoto met Chris Meledandri, founder of Universal Pictures’ Illumination animation division
Miyamoto found Meledandri’s creative process similar to his own and felt he would be the proper lead for a Mario film
They had started more earnest discussions by 2016, knowing that if they felt it would not work that they could easily walk away
In November 2017, reports emerged that Nintendo was collaborating with Universal and Illumination to make an animated Mario film
Then-Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima clarified that a deal had not been finalized, but that an announcement would come soon
Kimishima hoped that if the deal were successful, a 2020 release date would be possible
In January 2018, Nintendo announced that the film would progress with Miyamoto and Meledandri co-producing
Meledandri said the film was a “priority” for Illumination and that it would most likely come out in 2022
He added that Miyamoto would be “front and center” during production
In January 2020, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the film was “moving along smoothly” with an expected 2022 release date
Furukawa also said Nintendo would own the rights to the film, and both Nintendo and Universal would fund the production
In August 2021, it emerged that Teen Titans Go! creators Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic were directing the film after the discovery of an Illumination animator’s LinkedIn profile that included the film in their list
Following the full casting announcement, Horvath and Jelenic were confirmed to be directing, with Matthew Fogel attached as the screenwriter after previously scribing Illumination’s Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)
According to Khary Payton, who has collaborated with Horvath and Jelenic on various projects at Warner Bros. Animation, the duo flew to Illumination Studios Paris a month after the release of their first feature film, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, in September 2018
In September 2022, it was announced by New York Comic Con that the film’s teaser trailer would be released on October 6, 2022
The teaser formally revealed the film’s title, The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Shortly thereafter, Ed Skudder, who previously worked with Horvath on Unikitty!, confirmed that he worked as head of story on the film
As of April 6, 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has grossed $58.3 million in the United States and Canada
And $34.7 million in other territories
For a worldwide total of $93 million
In the United States and Canada, The Super Mario Bros. Movie was initially projected to gross around $125 million from 4,025 theaters in its five-day opening weekend
It is also expected to gross around $100 million internationally
After making $31.7 million on its first day and $26.5 million on its second, five-day estimates were raised to $141 million
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 56% rating
Based 194 critics’ reviews
With an average rating of 5.6/10
The website’s consensus reads, “While it’s nowhere near as thrilling as turtle tipping your way to 128 lives, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a colorful — albeit thinly plotted — animated adventure that has about as many Nintendos as Nintendon’ts”
Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100
Based on 49 critics
Indicating “mixed or average reviews”
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of “A” on an A+ to F scale
In May 2021, Furukawa said that Nintendo was interested in producing more animated films based on its intellectual properties if the Mario film is successful
In a Variety cover story before the film’s release, producer Meledandri was asked about potential sequels, or projects adapted from other Nintendo properties
In November 2021, reports emerged that Illumination was developing a Donkey Kong spin-off film, with Rogen set to reprise his role
In April 2023, Rogen openly expressed interest in Donkey Kong Country forming the basis of future works, stating it created “a lot of opportunity” for a spin-off film
In February 2022, Day expressed interest in reprising his role as Luigi in a Luigi’s Mansion film and reiterated his interest in March 2023