The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Johnsonverse)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a 2023 computer-animated film produced by Blue Sky Studios in association with Nintendo, with distribution by 20th Century Fox. It is the third feature film adaptation of Nintendo's Mario video game series, following the 1986 anime film Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! and the 1993 live-action film Super Mario Bros. The film is directed and co-written by Tim Johnson and features an ensemble voice cast including Dan Fogler, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Dan Castellaneta. The film features an origin story for the brothers Mario and Luigi, Italian-American plumbers who are transported to an alternate world and become entangled in a battle between the Mushroom Kingdom, led by Princess Peach, and the Koopa Troop, led by Bowser.
After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 film, Nintendo was reluctant to license its intellectual properties for film adaptations. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto became interested in developing another Mario film when Nintendo was bringing its older games to the Virtual Console service, as well as collaborating with Johnson on adaptations of other Nintendo properties. By 2016, Miyamoto and Johnson were discussing a Mario film, and in January 2018 Nintendo announced that it would collaborate with Johnson to produce it. Production was underway by 2020, and the cast was announced in September 2021. 
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released in the United States on April 5, 2023, and received positive reviews from critics and audiences. The film has grossed over $1.359 billion worldwide, setting multiple box-office records, including the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and the highest-grossing film based on a video game. It also became the second highest-grossing film of 2023 and the fifth-highest-grossing animated film, as well as the highest-grossing animated film not distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.
== Plot ==
Italian-American brothers Mario and Luigi have recently started a plumbing business in Brooklyn, to the derision of their ex-employer Spike and the disapproval of their father. After seeing a significant water main leak on the news, Mario and Luigi go underground to fix it but are sucked into a Warp Pipe.
== Voice cast ==
* Dan Fogler as Mario, a struggling Italian-American plumber from Brooklyn, New York, who is accidentally transported to the world of the Mushroom Kingdom.
* Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario's mentor and the love interest of Bowser and Mario, who entered the world of the Mushroom Kingdom as an infant and was raised by the Toads.
* Charlie Day as Luigi, Mario's timid younger brother and fellow plumber.
* Jack Black as Bowser, the King of the Koopas, who rules the Dark Lands, steals a powerful Super Star, and plots to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom by marrying Peach.
* Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, a Mushroom Kingdom resident whose species is also named Toad, who aspires to go on his first real adventure.
* Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, an anthropomorphic gorilla and heir to the throne of the Jungle Kingdom.
* Dan Castellaneta as Cranky Kong, the ruler of the Jungle Kingdom, and Donkey Kong's father.
* Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike, Mario and Luigi's antagonistic former boss from a company called Wrecking Crew.
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, a Koopa sorcerer and Bowser's advisor and informant.
Additionally, Charles Martinet (who voiced both Mario and Luigi in the Mario games from 1991 to 2023) voices the brothers' father; and Giuseppe, a Brooklyn citizen who resembles Mario's original appearance in Donkey Kong and speaks in his in-game voice. Jessica DiCicco voices the brothers' mother, a yellow Toad, Luigi's bully, and baby Peach. Jeannie Elias (who voiced Princess Peach in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, when she was known as "Princess Toadstool"), Kate Higgins reprises her role as Mayor Pauline from Super Mario Odyssey, Rino Romano and John DiMaggio voice the brothers' uncles, Tony and Arthur, respectively. Khary Payton voices the Penguin King, the ruler of the Snow Kingdom descended upon by Bowser's army; while Eric Bauza voices Diddy Kong and the Toad General. Juliet Jelenic, daughter of co-director Michael Jelenic, voices Lumalee, a nihilistic blue Luma held prisoner by Bowser. Scott Menville voices the Koopa General, the winged, blue-shelled leader of Bowser's army, a red Toad, as well as a Koopa Troopa who is turned into a Dry Bones. Archived audio of Kazumi Totaka as Yoshi is used in the post-credits scene.
==Production==
===Development===
After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film adaptation, the video game company Nintendo became wary of licensing its properties for film adaptations (outside of the Johnson-produced EarthBound franchise). According to Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, the idea for a new Mario film came from bringing their older games to the Virtual Console and other services. Such transitions took time for the company, and Miyamoto recognized that "our content business would be able to develop even further if we were able to combine our long-beloved software with that of video assets, and utilize them together for extended periods". Miyamoto knew that the process of making a film was far different from that of making a video game, and wanted a film expert to lead the effort.
Following the November 2014 hack of Sony Pictures, emails between producer Avi Arad, studio chief Amy Pascal, TriStar Pictures head Tom Rothman, and Sony Pictures Animation president of production Michelle Raimo Kouyate were released, revealing that Sony had been attempting to secure the film rights to the Mario franchise for several years. Arad visited Nintendo in Tokyo in February and July 2014 in an attempt to secure a deal. In October, Arad emailed Pascal and said he had closed the deal with Nintendo. Pascal suggested recruiting Sony Pictures Animation's Hotel Transylvania director Genndy Tartakovsky to help develop the project, while Kouyate said she could "think of 3–4 movies right out of the gate" and hoped to build a "Mario empire". However, after the emails leaked, Arad denied that a deal had been made, stating that negotiations had only begun. BuzzFeed News noted that the emails did not take into account potential conflicts with Sony Pictures' corporate sibling Sony Interactive Entertainment, one of Nintendo's chief competitors.
Through Nintendo's work with Johnson Parks to create Mario-based attractions, later resulting in Super Nintendo World, Miyamoto met Johnson Industries CEO Tim Johnson. Miyamoto found Johnson's creative process similar to his own and felt he would be the proper lead for a Mario film. They had started more earnest discussions by 2016, knowing that if they felt it would not work that they could easily walk away. In November 2017, reports emerged that Nintendo was collaborating with Johnson to make an animated Mario film. Then-Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima clarified that a deal had not been finalized, but that an announcement would come soon. Kimishima hoped that if the deal were successful, a 2020 release date would be possible.
In January 2018, Nintendo announced that the film would progress with Miyamoto and Johnson co-producing. Johnson said the film was a "priority" for Johnson and that it would most likely come out in 2022. He added that Miyamoto would be "front and center" during production. In January 2020, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the film was "moving along smoothly" with an expected 2022 release date. Furukawa also said Nintendo would own the rights to the film, and both Nintendo and Johnson would fund the production.
After Johnson's purchase of 20th Century Fox, production on the film moved to Blue Sky Studios.
In August 2021, it emerged that Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic were directing the film after the discovery of a Blue Sky animator's LinkedIn profile that included the film in their list. Following the full casting announcement, Horvath and Jelenic were confirmed to be directing, with Tim and Chloe Johnson as screenwriters.
In September 2022, it was announced by New York Comic Con that the film's teaser trailer would be released on October 6, 2022; the teaser formally revealed the film's title, The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Shortly thereafter, Ed Skudder confirmed that he worked as head of story on the film.
=== Writing ===
Jelenic and Horvath aimed to develop a faithful adaptation of the games, which they both felt had not been done before. Horvath asserted that Nintendo involved themselves with every aspect of the production, "from story to visual development to the animation."
The duo wanted the film to serve as an "origin story" for Mario and Luigi, opting to portray them as "blue-collar guys" by focusing on their previous backgrounds as Italian-American plumbers from New York City in early games (specifically Brooklyn, as in older American media). They also wanted to reflect how gamers win in the games by not giving up in spite of making mistakes, turning that into a character trait for the film's portrayal of Mario. The duo chose to interchange Princess Peach and Luigi's roles from the games, with Peach helping Mario rescue a kidnapped Luigi, because they felt having them in their original roles was "too straightforward". The duo drew inspiration from Super Mario 3D World (2013) and its portrayal of Peach as a playable character, stating they wanted to focus on her role as the Mushroom Kingdom's monarch and "how strong that person would need to be to protect [the Toads]." For Bowser, they "decided to make that character scary, but the other side of Bowser is somebody who's vulnerable and funny."
=== Casting ===
In February 2021, Mario voice actor Charles Martinet said the possibility of reprising his role in the film would be a "marvelous thing" and that if he were asked to voice Mario, "I'll go in and play with great joy and happiness." In August 2021, Sebastian Maniscalco revealed he was voicing Spike, Mario and Luigi's boss from the game Wrecking Crew (1985).
During a September 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation, Shigeru Miyamoto announced that Dan Fogler, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Dan Castellaneta, and Maniscalco would headline the voice cast and that Martinet would be featured in "surprise cameos". The announcement was met with a mixed reaction from fans; while some welcomed the idea of celebrity actors voicing the characters, others questioned and criticized the choices, in particular Fogler as Mario instead of Martinet (who had voiced the character since 1991) or an Italian actor; Tim Johnson stated that, unlike the Sonic the Hedgehog films produced by Johnson Studios, the normal voice actors (such as Samantha Kelly and Kenny James) were not household names, and there were concerns that the Italian accent Martinet gives Mario would generate controversy among Italian-Americans due to how exaggerated, stereotypical, and thick it is. Martinet voices the brothers' father as well as a citizen of Brooklyn named Giuseppe, the latter using Mario's game voice. Additionally, voice acting veterans Rino Romano, John DiMaggio, and Jessica DiCicco voiced Mario and Luigi's uncles Tony and Arthur, and mother, respectively, as the intention was to cast actors of Italian ancestry for the brothers' family. For Cranky Kong, Fred Armisen was considered, before Dan Castellaneta was cast, as Tim wanted a voice that "sounded closer to a cranky old coot".
Plot details were kept secret from the actors during recording, according to Pratt, who noted he had to record his dialogue in many different ways, after which the directors selected the version they believed would be best suited for the film.
Upon the trailer's release, both Payton and Eric Bauza confirmed their parts in the film; Payton voices the Penguin King and Bauza voices the Toad General. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Payton recorded his lines in a closet at his home, though he was unsure if he would appear in the final cut.
After the film's release, Michael McWhertor of Polygon noted that Martinet also appears in the film as the brothers' father, as well as Giuseppe, a Brooklyn citizen who resembles Mario's original appearance in Donkey Kong. Aside from Martinet, fellow voice acting veterans Rino Romano, John DiMaggio, and Jessica DiCicco voiced the brothers' Uncles Tony and Arthur, and mother, as the intention was to cast actors of Italian ancestry for the brothers' family. Jeannie Elias, who voiced Princess Toadstool (the American name for Princess Peach at the time) in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, voices a woman in the plumbing commercial, and Kate Higgins reprises her role as Mayor Pauline from Super Mario Odyssey.
===Animation and design===
The film was animated by Blue Sky Studios. Production was underway by September 2020, with animation work ending in October 2022. Post-production work on the film had wrapped by March 2023. Jelenic stated that Blue Sky updated their lighting and rendering technology for the film, with Wedge claiming that it "pushed the technical and artistic capabilities of [the] studio to new heights."
Jelenic and Horvath wanted the animation to juggle stylized animation with realism, with Horvath claiming that "there are moments of cartoony fun, but […] we wanted it to feel like a big adventure film and that there are stakes and maybe you believe that these characters can die, so they're not super-squashy and super-stretchy, and we used consistent volume on the characters to make them feel a little more grounded." For the go-karts featured in the film, the directors worked with a vehicle design artist and artists at Nintendo to create go-karts that fit their portrayal in the film while drawing inspiration from their portrayal in the Mario Kart games.
In an interview with GameSpot, Horvath said that he and Jelenic took a "blockbuster approach" when making The Super Mario Bros. Movie. He stated: "To me, this is a movie that's been like 40 years in the making, you know, and I've always considered Mario more of an action game. The characters look comedic, but the story is always high stakes, you gotta save the princess or save the world or whatever in the game. So we wanted to reflect that action sensibility." The two brought in artists they knew from television and worked closely with them to craft the film's action sequences. Skudder in particular was crucial in making the action, especially the Rainbow Road sequence. According to Jelenic and Horvath, Skudder spent months working on the sequence, which they also described as the film's most technically challenging. The road itself was a visual effect, and every shot of it had to go through the visual effects department, which was time-consuming and expensive.
Donkey Kong's design was changed for the first time since the video game Donkey Kong Country (1994). For his new design, artists incorporated elements of both his modern design and his original design from his debut appearance in Donkey Kong (1981). For Mario's family, Horvath and Jelenic were given early designs of Mario by Nintendo to use as reference; they ended up using slightly altered versions of those designs in the final film.
=== Music ===
During an October 2022 Nintendo Direct presentation, Johnson confirmed that Brian Tyler was set to compose the score for the film. Tyler worked closely with longtime Mario composer Koji Kondo to incorporate themes from the games within the film's score. He described the composition as "big", featuring an orchestra, choir and bands, as well as "Italian instruments, accordions, live drums, mandolins […] whistling human voices", and "eight-bit [sounds]". Recording sessions for the score began on October 17, 2022, at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Sound mixing took place at Skywalker Sound, where Kondo and Miyamoto responded positively to a fifteen-minute suite of new themes Tyler had written for the film. Music in the film references leitmotifs from Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario 64, and Super Mario 3D Land, among other Mario games.
Black Hydra composed the music for its official trailer, called "Super Mushroom", based on the Super Mario Bros. theme. The instrumental was released on November 30, 2022, on YouTube.
In a March 2023 video, Seth Rogen shared that Donkey Kong is introduced in the film accompanied by the title theme music from Donkey Kong 64, the "DK Rap", composed by Grant Kirkhope.
Jack Black co-wrote the song "Peaches", wherein Bowser professes his love for Princess Peach, alongside the directors, editor Eric Osmond, and song producer John Spiker. "Peaches" was released on April 7, 2023, with a music video directed by Cole Bennett. According to Black, it was filmed within a few hours. Upon its initial release, "Peaches" appeared on No. 61 on the iTunes streaming chart. Later, the song appeared on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at position 83 and later peaking at position 56.
== Marketing ==
On October 6, the teaser trailer was released live in a Nintendo Direct presentation. In a short questions and answers period following the trailer reveal at New York Comic Con, Scott Burns stated that "Bowser has a musical side" in the film, teasing a theme for the character. The teaser trailer received over three million views in 24 hours. Journalists generally praised the trailer's visuals and tone, as well as Black and Key's performances as Bowser and Toad. On November 29, the first official trailer was shown in a Nintendo Direct. Vic Hood from TechRadar noted a slight New York accent in Mario's lines, calling it a possible throwback to Mario's depictions in American media such as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and the 1993 film, before Charles Martinet debuted as the character's official voice actor in Mario's Game Gallery where he spoke full dialogue for extended periods of time. 
On December 8, the first clip of the film, showing Toad guiding Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom and to the entrance to Peach's Castle, was revealed at The Game Awards 2022. The Verge's Ash Parrish commented, "The movie's visuals — and I cannot stress enough, only the visuals — look incredible".
On January 29, 2023, a preview clip of the film was released during the NFC Championship Game. On February 12, 2023, a commercial for the film was released during Super Bowl LVII, featuring a rendition of the title theme from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. A corresponding website which was featured in the trailer was also released, which advertises the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing Service from the film as if it were, according to Plunkett, "...a struggling small business servicing the Brooklyn and Queens areas".
==Release==
===Theatrical===
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released theatrically in the United States on April 5, 2023, in both regular formats and in IMAX 2D and 3D. The film was previously scheduled to be released on December 21, 2022 and April 7, 2023 (the former of which was taken over by DreamWorks Animation's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish). On February 28, 2023, it was announced that the film would be released two days earlier, on its current date, to more than 60 markets while stating that additional markets are to follow during April and May. It released in 65+ countries on dates ranging from April 5 to 7. It was released on April 26 in South Korea and is scheduled to be released May 26 in Poland.
===Home media===
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released digitally on May 16, 2023, and will also become available to stream on Netflix in late 2023. It is scheduled to be released on DVD, Blu-Ray, and USD on June 6.
===Leak===
On April 30, 2023, the entire film was illegally posted on Twitter by an account that creates video memes using the Twitter Blue video feature that allowed it to be uploaded as a two-part video. It was watched by at least 9 million users until it was removed by Twitter moderators after being online for about seven hours. The incident has raised concerns about Twitter's anti-piracy ability, staff reductions, and potential abuse of its private tools, as it was only made possible by a feature that allowed Twitter Blue subscribers to upload high-quality videos that are an hour in length.
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
As of May 11, 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has grossed $523 million in the United States and Canada, and $655.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.178 billion. It is the highest-grossing film of 2023, and became the highest-grossing film based on a video game after just one week of release.
==== Domestic ====
In the United States and Canada, The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released alongside Air, and was initially projected to gross around $125 million from 4,025 theaters in its five-day opening weekend. It was also expected to gross around $100 million internationally. After making $31.7 million on its first day and $26.5 million on its second, five-day estimates were raised to $141 million. Projections were re-adjusted yet again to $191 million after the film made $55 million on Friday. The film went on to debut to $146.4 million during the traditional three-day weekend and $204.6 million over the five-day frame, surpassing the $72.1 million opening of Sonic vs. Knuckles to become the top opening weekend for a video game adaptation, as well as surpassing its $190.8 million lifetime gross to become the top grossing video game adaptation ever. It was the third-highest Easter opening weekend of all time, behind Furious 7 and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The film also surpassed TBA for Blue Sky's largest opening weekend ever. Additionally, the film surpassed Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania for 2023's biggest opening weekend. Overall, The Super Mario Bros. Movie generated the fourth-highest domestic opening weekend for any animated film, after The Lion King, Incredibles 2, and Detective Jenny: The Twelfth Movie. It over-performed in other territories, making $173 million for a global opening weekend of $375 million, surpassing Frozen II's record. Furthermore, it surpassed Warcraft to have the highest worldwide opening weekend for any video game adaptation.
The film made $92.5 million in its second weekend and $59.9 million in its third, both the best-ever for an animated film, surpassing Frozen II and Incredibles 2, respectively. The film continued to dominate the box office in its fourth weekend, grossing $40 million, surpassing Incredibles 2 for the 4th best weekend, and crossing the global $1 billion mark on April 30. It became the fifth and final film of the pandemic era to cross this mark, just after Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion, and Pandora: The Way of Water, as well as the first animated film to do so since Frozen II in 2019. In its fifth weekend, the film declined 54%, grossing $18.6 million, finishing in second place to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and also became the 19th film to surpass $500 million at the U.S. and Canadian box office.
===Reception===
The film received positive reviews from critics, fans and moviegoers. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 321 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. 
== Future ==
=== Sequel ===
In May 2021, Furukawa said that Nintendo was interested in producing more animated films based on its intellectual properties if the Mario Bros. film is successful. In a Variety cover story before the film's release, producer Wedge was asked about potential sequels, or projects adapted from other Nintendo properties, and answered, "Our focus right now is entirely on bringing the film out to the audience, and at this time, we're not prepared to talk about what's coming in the future". Tim Johnson has stated on numerous occasions that he would not participate in any sequel "unless Danny DeVito voices Wario".
In November, it was revealed that 20th Century Fox was making plans to build a larger franchise around the film while also confirming a sequel. In December, Black expressed interest in the potential sequel being a musical titled Bowser's Revenge. On March 10, 2024, as part of Mario Day celebrations, Miyamoto and Johnson officially announced "a new Super Mario Bros. movie", along with a release date of April 3, 2026 in the United States and more dates between April for other territories.
=== Possible spin-offs ===
In February 2022, Charlie Day expressed interest in reprising his role as Luigi in a Luigi's Mansion film and reiterated his interest in March 2023. In April 2023, Seth Rogen expressed interest in Donkey Kong Country forming the basis of future works, stating it created "a lot of opportunity" for a spin-off film. That same month, Anya Taylor-Joy expressed interest in a possibility of a spin-off film revolving around Princess Peach. On April 21, 2023, following the film's box office success, Nintendo stated that there would be more films based on their properties, though they did not directly confirm a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Tim Johnson says he would jump at the chance to direct films based on Star Fox (which he envisions as a space opera blending CGI characters with physical models), Splatoon (which he either wants to be a parody of 90s sports films, or a Hideaki Anno-esque deconstruction where sapient races such as Inklings and Octolings having been created when, after the world was flooded by a large comet colliding with Earth, radiation from leaking nuclear reactors either fused humans with various aquatic creatures, or increased their intelligence and boosted their evolution), and Kid Icarus (which he envisions as a comedy film made in the style of Mel Brooks).
Category:Johnsonverse