Super Mario Bros: Animated movie sets all-star cast; Chris Pratt is Mario

Now here’s a surprise. While you might have thought that the disastrous 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros movie might have scared Hollywood away from ever tackling the characters on the big screen again, it looks like a new movie based on the classic Nintendo game is on the way – and guess what! It’s going to be animated. Phew! And if that didn’t sound perfect enough, Variety is reporting that none other than Chris Pratt has been signed to voice Mario himself, and he’s going to be joined by Charlie Day as Luigi.

And that’s not all! The animated flick, which comes from Nintendo, Universal and Chris Meledandri’s Illumination, has also enlisted The Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy to voice Princess Peach. At the same time, Seth Rogen will be Donkey Kong, Keegan Michael-Key is Toad, and Jack Black is Bowser. WOW!

I gotta say, that’s a pretty sweet lineup of voice talent for this animated pic, which is due in theatres on December 21st, 2022. Illumination has become a powerhouse for Universal, and with them teaming up with Nintendo, I’m willing to bet they are going to make a fun animated family flick.

Super Mario Bros, of course, is based on the classic Nintendo video game we all grew up playing on NES. It was followed by Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario Bros 3 (after its debut in the Fred Savage flick The Wizard) and has spawned a franchise that continues to this day. I actually spent the early days of the pandemic playing Super Mario Odyssey on Nintendo Switch, and it kept me more or less sane. In the wake of Sonic the Hedgehog grossing hundreds of millions, a Super Mario movie seemed like a sure thing, and, if you’re going to do it, an animated version makes all the sense in the world.

Check out the official poster below!

What do you think of Illumination’s Super Mario movie?