Nintendo and Illumination Officially Delay Super Mario Movie
Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment have announced that the Super Mario movie has been officially delayed. The movie was originally set to release this December, but has now been pushed back to April 2023. The film will release on April 7th in North America and on April 28th in Japan. News of the delay appeared on Nintendo's official Twitter account on Monday evening, in a Tweet from Shigeru Miyamoto. The Mario and Zelda creator did not offer specifics about the delay, but he did promise fans that the end result would be worth the extra time it takes to finish the film.
"After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023–April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America. My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait," Miyamoto wrote on Twitter.
Hopefully the extra time will help to ensure that the finished product lives up to Nintendo's standards! A live-action Mario movie was released in theaters back in 1993, and was both a critical and commercial failure. Since then, Nintendo has been notably hesitant about approving other Hollywood adaptations of its properties. However, it's possible this new Mario movie could open the door for other Nintendo films, if it proves successful. The movie's all-star voice cast could certainly lead to spin-off films, but it could be a bit of a wait, now that the movie has been delayed.
The cast for the Super Mario movie was revealed during a Nintendo Direct presentation back in September 2021. The movie will feature Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike. In addition to those actors, long-time Mario voice actor Charles Martinet will also appear in the film.
Are you disappointed by the delay of the Super Mario movie? Are you excited to see the animated movie when it releases next year? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!