Nintendo has announced the voice cast for their long rumored upcoming feature length animated Super Mario Bros. film. Chris Pratt will be voicing the world’s most famous plumber, with Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Mario’s brother Luigi, Jack Black as the villainous Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
The film will be a coproduction between Nintndo and Illumination Studios. Illumination founder Chris Meledandri and Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, tcreator of Mario, will produce the film. The film we be directed by Teen Titans Go! and Teen Titans Go! To the Movies’ Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic from a script by LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and Minions: The Rise of Gru screenwriter Matthew Fogel.
Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto released the following statements;
Chris Meledandri- “Mario and Luigi are two of the most beloved heroes in all of popular culture, and we are honored to have the unique opportunity to work so closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and the widely imaginative team at Nintendo to bring these characters to life in an animated movie, unlike any film Illumination has made to date.”
Shigeru Miyamoto- “We are collaborating with Chris [Meledandri] and his experienced team to not just create a character licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings Super Mario Bros. to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game. The production so far is constructive and going very well, and both parties are learning a lot from each other. We humbly ask that fans wait just a little longer for the premiere, and we hope they look forward to seeing the unique characters from Super Mario Bros. on the big screen.”
This isn’t the first time Mario and gang have been on the big screen. Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo played Mario and Luigi in the famously panned 1993 live-action film.
Super Mario. Bros. is scheduled for release on Dec. 21, 2022.