The Super Mario Bros. Movie has only been in theaters for a few weeks now, but it seems the Nintendo film has already aired on TV in Argentina. Twitter user @therealbuni shared an image from the broadcast, which aired on the Argentine station GenTV. According to reporting from The Game Spoof, this is not the first time the network has ignored copyright law and aired a full movie currently in theaters, having previously done so with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. It’s a bold move, and one that’s sure to result in some legal trouble for the company.
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The Tweet from @therealbuni about The Super Mario Bros. Movie can be found embedded below.
While some readers could be forgiven for thinking this may have been an honest mistake, it appears that GenTV’s Instagram page has been sharing memes about the situation. One meme is based on Captain America’s first meeting with Bruce Banner in The Avengers, but with Banner’s face replaced with the company’s logo. Captain America says to the network that he “heard that Mario passed by last night.” When Banner asks if that’s all Cap was told about him, Cap replies that “it’s the only thing that matters to me.” If the station has any regrets about airing the film in its entirety, it certainly doesn’t look that way!
As a company, Nintendo tends to take piracy of its video games very seriously, and it will be interesting to see if there are any consequences that GenTV faces following this situation. Since the movie was distributed by Universal, it might be up to them to handle the issue. With The Super Mario Bros. Movie quickly approaching $1 billion at the box office, Universal has a vested interest in stopping this kind of broadcast from happening at other networks. While GenTV seems to be laughing about the situation right now, that could quickly change when all is said and done!
Have you checked out The Super Mario Bros. Movie yet? Are you surprised that this station aired the movie in its entirety? Let us know in the comments or shareyour thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
