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In what has seemed like an eternal wait for the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, we are finally in the home stretch! The film is set to release next week on April 5th, but since we’re still not quite there, let’s take a moment to check out some interesting facts about the film that you may not know.
The idea for the film was sparked by Virtual Console.
According to Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the idea to produce a new film came about due to the Virtual Console. In case you’re not familiar, Virtual Console is a now defunct line of downloadable classic games offered by Nintendo for their Wii U and 3DS consoles. Based on emulation, it was an official way to purchase and play games from legacy systems such as NES, Sega Genesis, N64, even Commodore 64. The service proved to be very popular, apparently so much that it prompted Miyamoto to start work on an all new Mario movie!
Chris Pratt’s casting was predicted by a Twitter user.
Although the choice to cast Chris Pratt as the portly plumber has proven to be controversial with fans, someone apparently saw it coming a mile away. On May 21, 2020 – over sixteen months before it was announced that Pratt would voice the popular character – Twitter user general_sthe Tweeted out “I’m calling it now, the Mario Bros movie will NOT have Charles Martinet play Mario for no reason and cast someone like Chris Pratt”. While it may have been nothing more than a joke, it obviously turned out to be 100% accurate. Kinda weird and very funny!
It was almost a Sony film.
Yes, that’s right. In what could have been the ultimate mind-trip, rights to produce a new Super Mario film were initially being discussed with Sony Pictures, obviously a division of the same company behind PlayStation. And while Sony would have likely done a fine job, it’s pretty clear why this didn’t pan out. Sony’s status as one of Nintendo’s primary competitors proved to be a conflict of interest, and Nintendo opted to go with Illumination instead. I guess we can add this to the list of times that Nintendo falsely got Sony’s hopes up.
Some big celebrities were considered for the role of Peach.
As you likely know, the role of Princess Peach was given to Anya Taylor-Joy, an actress known for high profile roles in The Queen’s Gambit and Peaky Blinders. But did you know some other big names were in the running? Stars including Emma Stone, Kristen Bell, Mandy Moore, Amy Adams, Amanda Seyfried, Jodie Comer, and Chloë Grace were all discussed as potential options, leaving one to wonder how each would have turned out. From what we’ve heard though, the position was left in good hands!
Charles Martinet is in the movie.
As mentioned before, many fans are not pleased with the decision to cast Chris Pratt as Mario. But perhaps there’s solace to be had knowing that Charles Martinet wasn’t left completely out to dry. The actor – who has famously voiced Mario since 1994 – did indeed record voicework for the upcoming film. According to IMDb, Martinet will appear in the film as Mario’s dad and someone named Giuseppe. How much screen time these characters get has yet to be seen, but hopefully the Nintendo veteran gets his fair due.
Plot details were hidden from the cast, even during production.
When studios are working on films as highly anticipated as The Super Mario Bros. Movie, precautions are often taken to ensure plot points aren’t leaked to the public. In many cases, that means keeping the story on a need-to-know basis. Apparently, even some of the film’s primary performers are on the list of people who don’t need to know. Actor Charlie Day – who voices Luigi – revealed in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that the filmmakers were not able to reveal the plot to him, even as he was reading lines. We get it – spoilers are lame and potentially detrimental to box office earnings. And we know how thirsty the public already is for any details they can possibly slurp up. I mean, that’s why you’re here, right?
Spanish dub Mario and Luigi are real life brothers.
While we hope that Chris Pratt and Charlie Day share chemistry as the iconic duo, Spanish audiences have little to worry about. That’s because the actors cast in the dubbed version to be released in Spain are brothers in real life. That’s right, Guillermo Romero and Rafa Romero – both accomplished voice actors – will voice the brotherly duo. And to squeeze an extra factoid into your brain, Rafa Romero was also the voice of Luigi in the Spanish dub of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film.
The 1993 live-action Luigi actor is critical of the new casting choices.
This is the last time we’ll mention casting controversy on the list – we promise! But…apparently casting choices for the upcoming Mario film rubbed at least one cast member of the 1993 live-action movie based on Super Mario Bros. the wrong way. After the casting announcement that Mario and Luigi would be played by Chris Pratt and Charlie Day, actor/comedian John Leguizamo – who played Luigi in the 1993 film – took to Twitter calling out, “too bad they went all white! No Latinx in the leads! Groundbreaking color-blind casting in original!” Later in a statement to IndieWire, Leguizamo spoke out again, “Neither actor is of Italian descent . . . for them to go backwards and not cast another [actor of color] kind of sucks.”
The public’s first glimpse of Mario and Peach were leaked by a McDonald’s employee.
After the film was announced in 2021, fans quickly began speculating on what characters would look like. When posters and trailers started rolling out, people naturally chimed in with their opinions. But other than some minor critiques (oddly Mario’s lack of posterior), the public’s reaction to the film’s character models has been mostly positive. But for those were paying extra close attention, a peek of what Mario and Peach was leaked early. A McDonald’s employee had access to promotional images tied in with The Super Mario Bros. Movie themed Happy Meals that were sold in late 2022. The employee posted a picture online in a (now deleted) tweet, but those who saw it were among the first to see what Mario would look like in the movie.
The film is the first non-video game media that uses the name Princess Peach name outside of Japan.
Originally known simply as Princess Toadstool, we didn’t learn that the monarch’s first name is Peach until 1993’s Yoshi’s Safari. By that time, however, Nintendo had already released media including multiple cartoons and the original 1993 film, all which omit her first name. And since Nintendo has largely stayed focused on its games rather than other media in recent years, The Super Mario Bros. Movie will actually be the first time outside of a video game (and outside of Japan) that Princess Peach will be called by her given name.
