The Super Mario Movie

Super Mario Bros. is a 2005 live-action/computer-animated fantasy adventure comedy film based on the video game of the same name. Produced by DreamWorks Pictures in association with Nintendo and distributed by Paramount Pictures, it is the first film in the Nintendo Cinematic Universe (NCU). The film features an ensemble voice cast including Dan Fogler and Andy Samberg as the titular brothers, alongside Reese Witherspoon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Chris Tucker, Fred Armisen, Sebastian Maniscalco, Charles Martinet and Kevin Michael Richardson.

After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 live-action film, Nintendo was reluctant to license its intellectual properties for film adaptations. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto became interested in developing another film when he met DreamWorks founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. By 1997, the four were discussing a Mario film and in January 1999, Nintendo announced that it would collaborate with DreamWorks and Paramount to produce it. Production was underway by 2001, and the cast was publicly announced in September 2002.

The film was released theatrically in Sydney on April 28, 2005, and was released in the United States on May 6, as the first film in Phase One of the NCU, to generally positive reviews and also received commercial success, grossing $435 million worldwide against a budget of $116 million, becoming the eighth-highest grossing film of 2005. It was also a box office success, grossing $360 million against a $40 million budget, and received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the plot, casting, performances (particularly of Fogler and Samberg), humor, animation, heart, and simple ideas for kickstarting a Nintendo Cinematic Universe. Two sequels have been released: Super Mario Bros. 2 (2010) and Super Mario Bros. 3 (2014).

Plot
In a monstrous, volcanic world known as World Bowser, a scheming Koopa named Bowser plots against the Earth. He then discovers a princess named Princess Peach and falls in love, but believes that she won’t love him back. He then plots to capture her and force her to marry him.

On Earth, Mario and Luigi are two plumbers who live in Brooklyn and don’t have anything better to do with their lives. They attend a meeting ceremony where they are introduced to Peach, who is also the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario falls in love with her, but Luigi finds her suspicious after she tells them that she came from another realm. Suddenly, the Koopa tribe arrives in Brooklyn and captures Peach. Mario and Luigi soon after discover a pipe in the middle of their apartment and enter it.

They find themselves in the Mushroom Kingdom, and are introduced to Toad, the royal guard of Princess Peach. When the Toad tribe cries over the kidnapping of Peach, Mario insists on rescuing her from Bowser, much to the Toad tribe’s (and Luigi’s) disbelief. Mario recruits Luigi along for the journey and they are aided with a creature known as a Yoshi. And so, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi set out on a journey to save Princess Peach from the clutches of Lord Bowser.

In World Bowser, a Goomba alerts Bowser that Mario and Luigi are going after him to save Peach. Bowser sends out an army of Piranha Plants, hoping that those will take them out. However, Mario and Luigi evade the Plants and Bowser deems them a threat. He decides to call two disrespected Bounty Hunters, Wario and Waluigi, to find and capture Mario and Luigi. However, Wario and Waluigi are the dumbest Bounty Hunters in the area, so they don’t know what Mario and Luigi look or sound like.

Mario and Luigi find themselves in a haunted house inhabited by King Boo, a ghost who works for Bowser and tries to sabotage their mission. As Mario and Luigi escape, Wario and Waluigi find and corner them. Mario distracts Wario with a Wiggler and the two escape, but they end up on a bridge that is destroyed if more than one person runs on it. Mario and Luigi run on the bridge and outrun Wario and Waluigi, sending them down the cliff and away from the brothers. Mario then discovers that Bowser’s castle isn’t very far away. Luigi realizes that they stand a chance against Bowser.

Mario and Luigi arrive at Bowser’s castle, but Yoshi leaves due to a fear of the Koopa tribe and returns to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi enter the castle and battle an army of Goombas, ending up in Bowser’s castle and ready to save Peach. However, Bowser attacks them upon Mario and Luigi getting into an argument, and Luigi is captured by Bowser. Mario escapes, having lost hope of defeating Bowser and saving his brother. However, Yoshi and the Toad tribe arrive to help Mario and they enter Bowser’s castle again. However, Bowser defeats the Toads, also Yoshi, and fights Mario, who wins after a long battle. Mario frees Luigi and Peach, and they return home safely. Luigi asks Mario if they should return to Brooklyn, but they decide to stay in the Mushroom Kingdom to learn more about the world.

Voice cast

 * Dan Fogler as Mario
 * Reese Witherspoon as Princess Peach
 * Andy Samberg as Luigi
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Bowser
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
 * Danny DeVito as Wario
 * Jim Carrey as Waluigi
 * Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
 * Chris Tucker as Diddy Kong
 * Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
 * Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike
 * Charles Martinet
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek

Production
After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film adaptation, Japanese video game company Nintendo became wary of licensing its properties for film adaptations. According to Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, he 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.

Emails between Paramount Pictures head Sherry Lansing, Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks co-founders Steven Spielberg, and Nickelodeon Movies president of production Herb Scannell were released revealing that Paramount had been attempting to secure the film rights to the Mario franchise for several years. Lansling visited Nintendo in Tokyo in February and July 1996 in an attempt to secure a deal. In October, Spielberg emailed Lansling and said he had never made the deal with Nintendo. Scanell suggested recruiting Nickelodeon Movies' Harriet the Spy director Bronwen Hughes to help develop the project, while Lansling said she could "think of 3–4 movies right out of the gate" and expressed hope in "build[ing] a Marioempire." However, after the emails leaked, Scannell 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.

Miyamoto met Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, founders of DreamWorks Animation. Miyamoto found their creative processes similar to his own and felt he would be the proper lead for a Mario film. They had started more earnest discussions by 1998, knowing that if they felt it would not work that they could easily walk away. In November 1999, reports emerged that Nintendo was collaborating with Paramount and DreamWorks to make an animated Mario film. Third Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi clarified that a deal had not been finalized, but that an announcement would come soon. Yamauchi hoped that if the deal was successful, a 2002 release date would be possible.

In January 2000, Nintendo announced that the film would progress with Miyamoto and Spielberg co-producing. Katzenberg said the film was a "priority" for DreamWorks and that it will most likely come out in 2003. He added that Miyamoto would be "front and center" during production. In June 2002, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated that the film was "moving along smoothly" with an expected 2004 release date. Iwata also said Nintendo would own the rights to the film, and both Nintendo and Paramount would fund the production.

Following the full casting announcement, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Pete Docter, having worked on Pixar films, were confirmed to be directing, with Michael Arndt attached as the screenwriter after previously scribing Paramount's The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004).

Casting
Shigeru Miyamoto announced that Dan Fogler, Reese Witherspoon, Andy Samberg, Benedict Cumberbatch, 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 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 has voiced the character since 1992) or an Italian actor. Spielberg said Fogler would not be voicing Mario with a thick Italian accent as Martinet has traditionally done.

Animation work and voice recording
Animation work began on May 11, 2003, with Miyamoto set to return to design the characters from the game series, with Michael W. Andrews added as an animator. The work lasted through December 2003. Voice recording began on January 5, 2004, and ended on August 7, 2004, lasting 7 whole months. An announcement teaser, teasing the title, cast, and animation work, was released on September 1, 2004.

Music

 * Further information: Super Mario Bros. (soundtrack) and Music of the Nintendo Cinematic Universe

Marketing
On August 31, 2004, Nintendo opened a website based on the film, earning the domain of “supermariomovie.com”, and a teaser poster being released on the site. An announcement teaser, teasing the title, cast, and animation work, was released on September 1, 2004. The first full-length trailer, teasing the plot, was released on October 30, 2004, with a second and final trailer being released on March 13, 2005. The trailers combined received a generally positive reaction from fans of the game series.

Theatrical
Super Mario Bros. premiered at the AMC Empire 25 in New York City, on April 29, 2005, and was released in 6,764 theaters across 54 countries between April 30 and May 6, before going into general release in the United States on May 6, 2005. It was originally scheduled to be released on December 25, 2004, but it was delayed to May 2005 due to filming issues and development scheduling. Super Mario Bros. is the first film of Phase One of the NCU.

Home media
Super Mario Bros. was released on VHS and DVD on November 29, 2005, in wide- and full-screen editions, by Paramount Home Entertainment. The film was released on Blu-ray on May 27, 2008. It includes behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary, deleted scenes, and an alternate opening.

The film was also collected in a 10-disc box set titled "Nintendo Cinematic Universe: Phase One – The Beginning" which includes all of the Phase One films in the Nintendo Cinematic Universe.

Box office
Super Mario Bros. grossed $353 million in the United States and Canada, while grossing $155 million in other territories, grossing a combined $508 million against an estimated budget of $73 million, becoming the eighth-highest grossing film of 2005.

In North America, Super Mario Bros. grossed $67 million during its Friday night showings from 3,400 theaters, and an estimated $100 million on opening day. Through its first three-day opening, it grossed $179 million from 4,340 theaters, debuting at first place in the box office. Outside of North America, the film grossed $130 million on opening weekend.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 89% based on 137 reviews and an average score of 8.00/10. The site’s consensus reads: “Super Mario Bros. heightens the bars of its predecessor with a fun, funny animated action comedy that fans of the series are sure to enjoy that includes twice the character development that the original did (none).” On Metacritic, the film has a score of 90 out of 100 based on 37 critics, indicating “generally positive reviews”. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a positive grade of an “A” on an A+ to F scale.

Writing for Variety, Andrew Barker called it "generally entertaining and better than the original" and concluded: "Even when it doesn’t really have a reason to exist, the Super Mario Bros. movie is purely better than the original for plenty of reasons". Neil Genzlinger gave the film a mostly positive review in The New York Times, writing: "The new Super Mario Bros. might well be the best video game movie 13-or-unders have yet seen, just as the original was for their parents back in 1993. Those parents might find it an enjoyable trip down memory lane, even if they do now recognize it as largely a well-served collection of video game-movie tropes". Eddie Goldberger echoed that sentiment in The New York Daily News, writing "It is a massive improvement over the original with way more bits of humor." Tirdad Derakhshani wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer: "It's not exactly a superhero film, but it does provide an enjoyable ride. It's good fun.", adding: "It’s a perfect remake and a perfect film in general.". Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mike McCahill called the film "not so funny". Bilge Ebiri wrote in New York magazine: "This new Super Mario Bros. isn't anything special... But it's not a travesty, and that feels like cause for brief celebration".

Other critics took a more skeptical view of the film. Writing a review for The Village Voice, Alan Scherstuhl stated, "Super Mario Bros. 2005 is better than the original (and that is a fact), but there are many other video game movies out there that are arguably a better time than this one. But I still recommend it to fans of the series, especially." Linda Cook wrote in The Quad City Times, "The Super Mario Bros. remake is good, and that can’t be argued with." Randy Cordova in The Arizona Republic wrote, "Ultimately, the whole affair is hilarious."

Sequels
Coming soon

Transcripts
Coming soon