The Super Mario Bros. Movie

***The Super Mario Bros. Movie*** is a 2023 American computer-animated adventure comedy movie based on the *Mario* video game franchise by Nintendo. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and written by Matthew Fogel, it was produced by Illumination and Nintendo, and stars an ensemble voice cast led by Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Charles Martinet, and Kevin Michael Richardson. The movie centers on brothers Mario and Luigi, two Italian-American plumbers who are separated after being accidentally transported to another world and subsequently become entangled in an battle between the Mushroom Kingdom, led by Princess Peach, and the Koopas, led by Bowser.

Due to the critically commercial failure of the live-action movie *Super Mario Bros.* (1993), Nintendo became reluctant to license its intellectual properties for movie adaptations. However, *Mario* creator Shigeru Miyamoto became interested in developing another movie during the development of the Virtual Console. Through Nintendo's work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create Super Nintendo World, he met with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri. They were discussing a *Mario* movie by 2016 and Nintendo announced in January 2018 that they would produce it with Illumination and Universal. Production was underway by 2020, and the cast was announced in September 2021.

*The Super Mario Bros. Movie* premiered at Regal LA Live on April 1, 2023, and was released in the United States on April 5, by Universal Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed out $1.36 billion worldwide, breaking multiple box-office records, including becoming the highest-grossing movie based on a video game and the first movie based on a video game to gross over $1 billion. It finished its theatrical run as the second-highest-grossing movie of 2023, the third-highest-grossing animated movie, the 15th-highest-grossing movie of all time, and the highest-grossing movie produced by Illumination. At the 81st Golden Globe, the movie received nominations for Best Animated Feature Movie, Best Original Song, and Cinematic and Box Office Achievement, a category introduced at the same ceremony. A sequel, titled *The Super Mario Galaxy Movie*, was announced on March 2024 and will release on April 1, 2026.

## Plot 
Italian-American brothers Mario and Luigi operate a struggling plumbing business in Brooklyn, to the derision of their ex-foreman 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 and separated.

Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by Princess Peach, while Luigi arrives in the Dark Lands, ruled by the evil Koopa king Bowser, who seeks to marry Peach and will destroy the Mushroom Kingdom using a Super Star if she refuses. Seeing Mario as a competition for Peach's love, Bowser imprisons Luigi to threaten him. Mario meets Toad, who takes him to Peach. Peach plans to ally with the primate Kongs to help repel Bowser, and trains Mario before allowing him and Toad to travel along. During their journey, she tells Mario that she ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom as a baby, where the Toads took her in and eventually made her their leader. In the Jungle Kingdom, King Cranky Kong agrees to help if Mario defeats his son, Donkey Kong, in a fight. Despite initially being overpowered by Donkey Kong's strength, Mario defeats him using a Cat Suit.

Mario, Peach, Toad, and the Kongs use karts to drive back to the Mushroom Kingdom, where Bowser's army ambushes them on Rainbow Road. When a blue-shelled Koopa General destroys part of the road, Mario and Donkey Kong plummet to the ocean while the other Kongs are captured. Peach and Toad return to the Mushroom Kingdom and urge the citizens to evacuate. Bowser arrives aboard his flying castle and proposes to Peach, who reluctantly accepts after Bowser's advisor Kamek tortures Toad with magic. Mario and Donkey Kong, having been swallowed by a giant eel, learn they both want the respect of their fathers. They escape the eel by riding a rocket barrel from Donkey Kong's kart and hurry to Bowser and Peach's wedding.

At the wedding ceremony, Bowser intends to sacrifice all of his prisoners in Peach's honor. Toad smuggles an Ice Flower into Peach's bouquet, which she uses to freeze both Bowser and the chain lowering the prisoners into the lava. Mario and Donkey Kong fight their way through Bowser's army and free the prisoners, with Mario using a Tanooki Suit to save Luigi. Bowser frees himself and launches a Bomber Bill to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom, but Mario knocks it off-course and directs it into the Warp Pipe, where it detonates, creating a vacuum that sucks Bowser's castle and its occupants into Brooklyn.

Mario attempts to grab the Star but is attacked by an enraged Bowser, who swiftly defeats Peach, Toad, and Donkey Kong. Mario sees his business' commercial on a television and is motivated to face Bowser, who almost incinerates him. Luigi uses a manhole cover to save Mario, and they both grab the Super Star. Becoming temporarily invincible, they defeat the Koopas, destroy Bowser's castle, and incapacitate him. Peach shrinks Bowser with a blue Mini Mushroom before Toad imprisons him in a jar. Mario and Luigi are hailed as heroes by Brooklyn's populace, including their parents and Spike. Sometime later, after moving into a house in the Mushroom Kingdom, the Mario brothers begin a day of plumbing work together.

## Voice cast 
* Chris Pratt as Mario, a struggling plumber from Brooklyn, New York, who is accidentally transported to the world of the Mushroom Kingdom and embarks on a quest to save his brother.
* Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom and Mario's love interest.
* Charlie Day as Luigi, Mario's timid younger and taller fraternal brother and fellow plumber, who is captured by Bowser and his army.
* Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, a Koopa sorcerer and Bowser's advisor and informant.

Additionally, Charles Martinet—having voiced Mario and Luigi in the *Mario* games from 1994 to 2023—voices Papa Mario, Mario and Luigi's father, and Giuseppe, a Brooklyn citizen who resembles Mario's original appearance in *Donkey Kong* and speaks in his in-game voice. Rino Romano and John DiMaggio respectively voice Tony and Arthur, Mario and Luigi's uncles. Khary Payton voices the Penguin King, the ruler of the Snow Kingdom, which Bowser and his army attack; Scott Menville voices the Koopa General, the winged, blue-shelled leader of Bowser's army, a red Toad, and a Koopa Troopa is turned into a Dry Bones.

## Production 
### Development 
The Japanese video game company Nintendo became wary of licensing its properties for film adaptations after the critically commercial failure of the 1993 *Super Mario Bros.* movie adaptation. Miyamoto knew that the process of making a movie was far different from that of making a video game, and wanted a movie expert to lead the effort.

Emails between producer Avi Arad, Sony Pictures studio chief Amy Pascal, TriStar Pictures head Tom Rothman, and Sony Pictures Animation president of production Michelle Raimo were released after the November 2014 hack of Sony, revealing that Sony had been attempting to secure the movie rights to the *Mario* franchise for several years. Arad visited Nintendo in Tokyo on February and July 2014 in an attempt to secure a deal. In October, Arad emailed Pascal and said that he'd 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, Arad denied that a deal has been made after the emails leaked, stating that negotiations had only begun. *BuzzFeed News* noted that the emails didn't take into account potential conflicts with Sony Pictures' corporate sibling Sony Interactive Entertainment, one of Nintendo's chief competitors.

Miyamoto met Chris Meledandri, founder of Universal Pictures' Illumination animation division, through Nintendo's work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create *Mario*-based attractions, later resulting in Super Nintendo World. Miyamoto found Meledandri's creative process similar to his own and felt that he would be the proper lead for a *Mario* movie. They'd started more earnest discussions by 2016, knowing that if they felt it wouldn't work that they could easily walk away. Then-Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima clarified that a deal hadn't been finalized but that an announcement would come soon. He hoped that if the deal was successful, a 2020 release date would become a possibility.

In January 2018, Nintendo announced that the movie would progress with Miyamoto and Meledandri co-producing. Meledandri said the movie was a "priority" for Illumination and that it would 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 movie was "moving along smoothly" with an expected 2022 release date. He also said Nintendo would own the rights to the movie, and both Nintendo and Universal would fund the production.

 (left) and Michael Jelenic (right)]]
In August 2021, *Teen Titans Go!* creators Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic were both emerged to direct the movie after the discovery of an Illumination's animator's LinkedIn profile that included the movie in their list. They were confirmed to be directing following the full casting announcement, with Matthew Fogel attached as the screenwriter after previously scribing Illumination's *Minions: The Rise of Gru* (2022). According to Khary Payton, who had previously collaborated with Horvath and Jelenic on various projects at Warner Bros. Animation, the duo flew to Illumination Studios Paris a month after the release of *Teen Titans Go! To the Movies*, their first feature movie, in September 2018.

In September 2022, New York Comic Con announced that the movie's teaser trailer would be released by October 6, 2022; the teaser formally revealed the movie's title, *The Super Mario Bros. Movie*.

### Writing 
Jelenic and Horvath wanted their work on the movie to be the opposite of the "irrevent" *Teen Titans Go!*, aiming to develop a faithful adaptation of the games, which they felt hadn't been done before, as well as something "more cinematic" and "more emotional" than *Teen Titans Go!*. "When people properly first heard our names attached to the movie, they expected we'd do the *Teen Titans Go!* treatment to Mario," said Jelenic. "But every project we come to, we make new choices depending on who the audience is and what we're going for." Horvath asserted that Nintendo involved themselves with every aspect of the production, "from story to visual development to the animation."

The duo wanted the movie 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 drew inspiration from *Super Mario 3D World* (2013) and its portrayal of Peach as a playable character, saying that 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]". And as for Bowser, they "decided to make the character scary, but the other side of Bowser is somebody who's vulnerable and funny". In August 2021, Sebastian Maniscalco revealed that 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 Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Fred Armisen, 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 the fans; while some welcomed the idea of celebrity actors voicing the characters, others questioned and criticized the choices, in particular Pratt as Mario instead of Martinet (who had voiced the character since 1991) or an Italian actor. Martinet voices Papa Mario, Mario and Luigi's father, as well as a citizen of Brooklyn named Giuseppe, the latter using Mario's game voice. In addition, voice acting veterans Rino Romano, John DiMaggio, and Jessica DiCicco voiced Mario and Luigi's uncles Tony and Arthur, and mother Mama, respectively, as the intention was to cast actors of Italian ancestry for their family.

Meledandri said Pratt wouldn't be voicing Mario in a thick Italian accent as Martinet had traditionally done. Voice actor Khary Payton described Pratt's original voice during production as a "New York, Italian guy" and a "cousin to the Sopranos", but the accent was scrapped for sounding too similar to the character Tony Soprano. Voice actress Tara Strong criticized Pratt's casting and expressed a preference for Martinet to voice Mario instead, lamenting what she described to be Hollywood's disregard for professional voice actors. In response to criticism of Pratt's casting, Horvath stated, "For us, it made total sense. He's really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterized in our movie, he's perfect for it."

Charlie Day originally wanted to voice Luigi with a New York accent similar to the movie *Goodfellas* (1990). However, the accent was scrapped when directors told him that it sounded too similar to the gangster film, to which Day responded to the change with, "Alright! I think you're wrong, but fine!"

Upon the trailer's release, both Payton and Eric Bauza confirmed in their parts for the movie; 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.

During a September 2021 Nintendo Direct presentation, Shigeru Miyamoto announced that Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Fred Armisen, 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 the fans; while some welcomed the idea of celebrity actors voicing the characters, others questioned and criticized the choices, in particular Pratt as Mario instead of Martinet (who had voiced the character since 1991) or an Italian actor. Martinet voices Papa Mario, Mario and Luigi's father, as well as a citizen of Brooklyn named Giuseppe, the latter using Mario's game voice. In addition, voice acting veterans Rino Romano, John DiMaggio, and Jessica DiCicco voiced Mario and Luigi's uncles Tony and Arthur, and mother Mama, respectively, as the intention was to cast actors of Italian ancestry for their family.

Meledandri said Pratt wouldn't be voicing Mario in a thick Italian accent as Martinet had traditionally done. Voice actor Khary Payton described Pratt's original voice during production as a "New York, Italian guy" and a "cousin to the Sopranos", but the accent was scrapped for sounding too similar to the character Tony Soprano. Voice actress Tara Strong criticized Pratt's casting and expressed a preference for Martinet to voice Mario instead, lamenting what she described to be Hollywood's disregard for professional voice actors. In response to criticism of Pratt's casting, Horvath stated, "For us, it made total sense. He's really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterized in our movie, he's perfect for it."

Charlie Day originally wanted to voice Luigi with a New York accent similar to the movie *Goodfellas* (1990). However, the accent was scrapped when directors told him that it sounded too similar to the gangster film, to which Day responded to the change with, "Alright! I think you're wrong, but fine!"

Upon the trailer's release, both Payton and Eric Bauza confirmed in their parts for the movie; 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.

### Animation and designer 
The movie was animated by Illumination Studios Paris in Paris, France. Production was underway by September 2020, with animation ending in October 2022. 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.

In an interview with *GameSpot*, Horvath said that he and Jelenic took a "blockbuster approach" when directing the movie's action sequences, "consider[ing] Mario [to be] more of an action game. [...] So we wanted to reflect that action sensibility." The pair brought in artists they'd previously worked with from their television background, and credited head of story Ed Skudder with storyboarding the Rainbow Road sequence, which they also described as the movie'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); the new design was influenced by the character's redesign in *Donkey Kong Bananza* (2025), which was in development during the movie's production. For Mario's family, Horvath and Jelenic were given early designs of Mario by Nintendo as references; they ended up using slightly altered versions of those designs in the movie.

Jason Hanel, senior colorist at Company 3, fine-tuned *The Super Mario Bros. Movie*s visuals using DaVinci Resolve. While Illumination's animation already controlled lightning and color, Hanel made final scene-by-scene adjustments to enhance realism and maintain consistency. He adjusted skin tones, clothing, and environments to counter unintended shifts from digital lighting. The transition from Brooklyn's realism to the Mushroom Kingdom's fantasy was refined through color grading, with effects like digital lens flares and atmospheric lighting reinforcing a cinematic feel. The Dark Lands' shadows and black levels were finalized in post-production to achieve the intended eerie tone.

## Music 
During an October 2022 Nintendo Direct presentation, Meledandri confirmed that Brian Tyler was set to compose the movie's score. Tyler worked closely with longtime *Mario* composer Koji Kondo to incorporate themes from the games. 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]". Mixing took place at Skywalker Sound, where Kondo and Miyamoto responded positively to a 15-minute suite of new themes Tyler had written.

Songs from Jack Black and Keegan-Michael Key were improvised for the movie. Black Hydra composed the music for its official trailer, "Super Mushroom", based on the *Super Mario Bros.* theme. The instrumentation was released on November 30, 2022, on YouTube.

In a March 2023 video, Seth Rogen shared that Donkey Kong was introduced in the movie accompanied by the title theme music from *Donkey Kong 64*, the "DK Rap", composed by Grant Kirkhope and George Andreas. In contrast to the licensed songs that were used in the movie, Kirkhope and Andreas didn't receive credit for the "DK Rap" in the movie's end credits, an oversight the composer found disappointing. Kirkhope was later told that Nintendo's policy was not to credit composers on music sourced from games that the company owned.

Jack Black co-wrote the song "Peaches", wherein Bowser professes his love for Princess Zelda, alongside the directors, editor Eric Osmond, and song producer John Spiker. Having Bowser perform a love song was Black's idea. "Peaches" was released on April 7, 2023, with a music video directed by Cole Bennett. According to Black, it was filmed in a few hours. Upon its release, "Peaches" was #61 on the iTunes streaming chart. It later appeared at the *Billboard* Hot 100, debuting at #83 and peaking at #56. 

### Track listing 
### Additional list 
Licensed songs that were included in the movie include:

## Marketing 
 bus advertising the film in April 2023|alt=A red bus driving through Europe with a screen that shows Mario]]
On October 6, 2022, 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, Jack Black stated that "Bowser has a musical side" in the movie, 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. However, Pratt's performance as Mario was described as lacking in emotion and sounding too similar to his normal speaking voice. 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 movie, before Charles Martinet debuted as the character's official voice in ''Mario's Game Gallery* where he spoke full dialogue for extended periods of time. In a newsletter from *The Guardian'', the response to Pratt's voice was likened to the backlash against the first trailer of *Sonic the Hedgehog*.

|alt=Many movie and advertisements of media are in the top of a skyline in Japan; some people look up to them]]
On November 29, the first official trailer was show in a Nintendo Direct. Public reactions were still largely favorable, though online discourse continued to center on Pratt's performance as Mario.

On December 8, the first clip of the movie, showing Toad guiding Mario through the Mushroom Kingdom and to the entrance to Peach's Cast, was revealed at The Game Awards 2022. *The Verge* Ash Parrish commented, "Despite the skepticism surrounding Chris Pratt's performance as Mario, the movie's visuals-and I cannot stress enough, only the visuals-looks incredible".

On January 29, 2023, a preview clip of the movie was released during the NFC Championship Game. Some entertainment news sites pointed the addition of Rogen's "iconic laugh" heard as Donkey Kong in the clip. Emma Roth from *The Verge* commented, "I'm pleasantly surprised at how well his voice (and laugh) suits the character", while Luke Plunkett from *Kotaku* commented, "Seth Rogen has been hired to... just be Seth Rogen".

On February 12, a commercial for the movie 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 movie as if it were, according to Plunkett, "...a struggling small business servicing the Brooklyn and Queens areas".

## Release 
### Theatrical 
*The Super Mario Bros. Movie* held its world premiere at Regal L.A. Live in Los Angeles, California on April 1, 2023, with the cast and crew in attendance. It was theatrically released in the United States on April 5, and later in Japan on April 28, in both regular formats and in IMAX 2D and 3D, with a runtime of 92 minutes.

 screening in 2023|alt=Japanese-language board is presented by smiling people who watched the movie for an event; some in the back have Mario merchandise]]
The movie 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* due to the movie's delay to the later date. It released in 65-plus countries on dates ranging from April 5 to 7. It was released on April 26 in South Korea and on May 26 in Poland. On May 11, 2023 the Motion Picture Association (MPA) collaborated with the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to organize a special screening of *The Super Mario Bros. Movie* in honor of World Intellectual Property Day.

### Home media 
*The Super Mario Bros. Movie* was released on digital download on May 16, 2023, and was officially released on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 13 in the US, with some early sales starting on June 6. The movie was released on these formats in the UK on July 24.

The movie was made available to stream on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service on August 3, 2023. As part of a 18-month deal with Netflix for Universal's animated movies, the movie streamed on Peacock for the first four months of the pay-TV window, before moving to Netflix for the next ten beginning on December 3, and returning to Peacock for the remaining four beginning in October 2024. Between January and June 2024, the movie amassed 80 million views, making it the fourth most-watched movie on Netflix for the first half of 2024.

### Internet leak 
On April 30, 2023, a pirated copy of the movie was leaked onto Twitter and was viewed by at least 9 million users in roughly 7 hours, before being removed by the moderators. This 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 of up to one hour in length.

## Reception 
### Box office 
*The Super Mario Bros. Movie* grossed $574.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $785.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.361 billion. It also became the first movie based on a video game to gross $1 billion worldwide, the highest-grossing animated movie of 2023, and the second highest-grossing movie of 2023 after *Barbie*. It became the highest-grossing movie based on a video game after just one week of release, for which it earned a Guinness World Record. In May 2023, it overtook *Minions* to become the highest-grossing movie released by Illumination. *Deadline Hollywood* calculated the movie's net profit as $559 million, according for production budgets, marketing, talent participations and other costs; box office grosses, television and streaming, and home media revenues placing it on their list of 2023's "Most Valuable Blockbusters".

### Accolades 
## Future 
### Sequel 
A sequel, titled *The Super Mario Galaxy Movie* will be released on April 1, 2026.

## Notes
## References
## External links 
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