After watching “Sonic the Hedgehog” take over the box office last year, it appears Nintendo isn’t ready to sit idly by, as the company has announced plans for a “Super Mario Bros.” animated film with the team at Illumination studios.
According to Illumination and Nintendo, the upcoming “Super Mario Bros.” animated film will feature a cast that includes Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
While the casting was immediately met with a bit of a mixed reaction from fans, the biggest confusion seems to be surrounding Chris Pratt’s casting as Mario. In the lore, Mario is an Italian plumber and seemingly doesn’t fit the profile of the type of character Pratt typically plays in films, even the ones he voices. That said, in a recent Instagram post, the actor shared his story about why he’s excited to star in “Super Mario Bros.” and even hints that the voice he uses in the film isn’t the typical Chris Pratt voice.
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In the video, Pratt talks about stealing money from a Wishing Well to pay for his obsession with playing “Super Mario” at his local arcade. While he doesn’t give away any sort of teases about the style of the film, he does say, “We’ve been working hard.” And when he does say the iconic line, “It’s-a meee,” he follows it up with “That’s not the voice,” putting fans’ fears at ease.
Other than Pratt, there seems to be a general joy as to the casting with Charlie Day being a somewhat inspired pick to play Luigi and everyone else seemingly perfect for the type of role they’re cast in.
Ultimately, it does feel like people are excited about a “Super Mario Bros.” animated film, which is set to be released on December 21, 2022, but let’s be real, nothing will top the previous attempts, right?