Like a Blue Shell about to slam the top of the box office, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is finally speeding towards us. It’s got everything that generations of fans have been clamouring to see on the big screen—Donkey Kong, Toad and Peach! Mario Kart racing! Side-scrolling action sequences!—plus some stuff we didn’t expect. Like, um, Chris Pratt as the unlikely voice of the portly heroic plumber.
Here’s all the important stuff we know about the upcoming film’s voice cast, secretive plot, special easter eggs and much, much more-io.
1. It’s a musical! Wahoo!
We know that the super-catchy Mario theme composed way back in 1985 by Koji Kondo has to make some appearances in The Super Mario Bros. Movie score, already used to poignant effect in trailers. But did you know we may also witness up to three all-singing, all-dancing Mushroom Kingdom musical numbers?!
Variety confirms that rumours of musical sequences in the film adaptation have swirled since Jack Black admitted he “did a little bit of rocking” as the voice of Bowser. And voicing Toad, Keegan-Michael Key improvised a quick original ditty too. This would all make sweet melodic sense, as the film’s studio Illumination is known for animated singalongs like Sing.
2. The release date has bounced back and forth like a round of Mario Tennis Aces
We were initially meant to enjoy The Super Mario Bros. Movie as a Christmas present of sorts, but it was bumped from December 21, 2022 to March 2023. Then we found out there was yet another month of waiting, with April 7 set as the new international release date.
But wait!! It turns out that, for whatever reason, more than 60 markets around the world will be able to see the film five days earlier than that revised release date, on April 5, 2023. Japan, Mario’s native homeland, will strangely get the film on April 28: gomen nasai, long-time Mario fans of Nippon.
3. Some fans are still salty that Chris Pratt is voicing Mario
Similarly to the #UglySonic backlash surrounding that video game adaptation’s first trailer, lead voice actor Chris Pratt was quickly criticised when fans caught the first audio snippet of the very Italian Mario sounding more like…Chris Pratt.
Don’t get us wrong, he’s a talented voice performer, as the screencaps in the tweet below prove. But is it enough to just say ‘wahoo’ and ‘let’s-a go’ in a vaguely Brooklyn brogue, rather than giving fans the high-pitched Euro-accent they’ve loved for so long in OG voice actor Charles Martinet’s style?
Honestly it’s not about Pratt himself, and more the disrespect VAs get in the industry in general
He was not chosen because he was the best Mario voice, that’s Charles Martinet
He was chosen because he’s a high profile movie star who has a recognizable name.
— S0mecallme (@FEObsessive) March 12, 2023
Plenty of viewers will still need some convincing, but the good news is that Martinet is credited in the new film with a cameo appearance. We hope he could be tasked with narrating the new tale in his typically giddy tones.
4. Luigi seems to be playing the damsel in distress—not Peach
The movie’s directing team, Teen Titans Go! To The Movies directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, have said it was important to flip the dynamic between the typically kidnapped/victimised Princess Peach and Mario’s second banana brother Luigi. It’s a good move, too, considering Peach will be played by steely-cool starlet Anya Taylor-Joy and Luigi is voiced by manic It’s Always Sunny weirdo Charlie Day. With a more empowered Peach joining Mario to save his fraidy-cat brother, we’re getting a new story that’s not too similar to any one Mario game.
5. Bowser is Jack Black’s first villainous turn in quite a while
The jovial School of Rock star sounds more grizzled and scary than usual in The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s trailers (even if we do get a song or two outta him). The King of the Koopas is one of the few characters Black has played who’s a downright bad guy: he voiced a secondary antagonist in Ice Age (whatever), but is better known for loveable folks like Kung Fu Panda‘s Po and his comedic breakout in High Fidelity.
But hold up, let’s not forget his youthful turn as bully “Slip, leader of the Nasties” in The NeverEnding Story III. Maybe this, um, iconic mono-browed character will inform some of Black’s atypical villain work as the greedy, war-mongering Bowser.
6. We’ll finally get to see Mario and Luigi doing their goddamn jobs for once
During this year’s Superbowl, football fans were treated to a cute, purposefully corny “ad” for Super Mario Bros. Plumbing service. The rent on Peach’s Castle ain’t gonna pay itself!!
Everyone knows Mario and Luigi are plumbers, but scenes of them unclogging sinks and wading through sewage are strangely underrepresented within the video games. Seeing the boys at work before their fantastical voyage into a world of mushroom villagers and Rainbow Roads will be a nicely grounding way to start our story.
The directors have even said they wish to focus on the brother’s Brooklyn origins as “blue-collar guys… from a family of Italian immigrants”, perhaps making The Super Mario Bros. Movie a bold tale of Italian-American diaspora and belonging in America. The Godfather, basically.
7. The filmmakers are a dream team of Illumination + Nintendo head honchos
In making a successful video game adaptation, it’s important that both sorts of screens are respected in the finished product: The Last of Us just did a great job of it, getting game creator Neil Druckmann on board in a major capacity. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is being produced by Nintendo’s legendary director Shigeru Miyamoto and Chris Meledandri, the guy behind Illumination’s big hits Despicable Me and Sing.
That’s why the character designs are advanced compared to even the most HD, modern-looking iterations of Mario and co. in recent games. Mario, Luigi, Peach and more have all had their faces exaggerated and elasticised, bringing a cinematic range of movement and expression we might miss out on while playing.
8. Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong might already have his own spin-off in the works
Rogen haters are already mad that his signature stoner chuckle is coming out of Donkey Kong’s monkey mouth, but the producers couldn’t care less. GiantFreakinRobot reported last year that a solo Donkey Kong cinematic adventure is already in development, presumably bringing Fred Armisen’s Cranky Kong along for the ride. It’s from a shadowy “inside source”, so let’s just wait for a coconutty trailer (or mid-credits scene!) that shows Lanky, Diddy, Funky and perhaps Dixie Kong getting their time in the spotlight.
9. Long-time gamers will appreciate countless easter eggs and inside jokes
Peach’s motorcycle, exclusive to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: the adorable Luma critters from Super Mario Galaxy: Mario’s purr-fectly suave cat suit from Super Mario Bros. 3…The trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie is already ticking off plenty of particular video game moments to tickle nerd attention spans.
So we can expect many more scenes and visual gags referencing the long history of Mario’s playable world, from glitches and secret levels to beloved side-character appearances. Some of the classic Mario nemeses to show up include Goombas, Bob-ombs, Piranha Plants, Buzzy Beetles, and Shy Guys, as well as the Hammer Bros. and sorcerer Kamek, voiced by stalwart video game performer Kevin Michael Richardson.
10. New Yorkers lined up and lost their minds at…Mario’s Official Shoes
Apparently March 10 is Mario Day (Mar 10, you get it). Apparently New York hypebeasts seriously love Mario’s normcore, utilitarian fashion sense. Combining both facts, the quick video below shows a stop on the new film’s promo tour where a larger-than-life pair of Mario’s bulbous brown boots were unveiled within a glass museum case.
From delivery to display, all eyes were on Mario’s boots during #MAR10Day at Nintendo New York. #SuperMarioMovie pic.twitter.com/3QfM5bArNZ
— Illumination (@illumination) March 13, 2023
You can walk a mile in Mario’s shoes yourself thanks to Red Wing Shoes, who used “state-of-the-art mushroom-infused materials” to create the “pixel-to-stitch” recreation. They’re goofy, but also extremely covetable?? Kinda like those wack Astro-Boy shoes everyone was losing it over a while ago?
11. There’s rumours of not one but TWO post-credits scenes
With its long history and large cast of quirky, playable characters—not to mention a projected US box office gross of $90 million in its opening week—the Mario-verse is certainly not capping itself at just one film. So news of more than one post-credits/mid-credits teaser has us thinking. There’s gotta be plans for Wario and Waluigi to show up (voiced by Danny Devito and Steve Buscemi, we pray), and we’ve already mentioned the gossip surrounding a Donkey Kong spin-off above.
Then again, could Luigi finally get his chance to shine on a global, cinematic stage, with a Luigi’s Mansion, horror-themed flick? Bloody Disgusting reckons references to Luigi’s spooky adventures could already appear in this first film, so who knows.
12. It’s going to be way better than the 1993 movie. It has to be.
“This ain’t no game”, read the tagline for the first live-action video game adaptation ever. If it was a game, we would’ve switched it off and sought a refund pretty quickly. Despite the amiable charms of Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo, 1993’s Super Mario Bros. was more dystopian clanking nightmare than a tribute to its beloved source material.
Whatever qualms about the casting or new story you may have, The Super Mario Bros. Movie simply must be an improvement on the last attempt at bringing Mario to the big screen, if only because the live-action flop maintains a measly 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. No more dinosaurs, no more distractingly ugly magnetic boots: only family-friendly good times with a dash of Crisp Rat to taste.
