The Super Mario Movie

Super Mario Bros.: The Movie is a 2005 computer-animated fantasy adventure comedy film based on the video game of the same name, by Nintendo. Directed by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter, and produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Nintendo, 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, Sebastian Maniscalco, Charles Martinet and Kevin Michael Richardson. 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 Koopas, led by Bowser.

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 Columbia Pictures to produce it. Production was underway by 2000, and the cast was publicly announced in September 2002.

The film was released theatrically in New York City on April 28, 2005 by Sony Pictures Releasing, and was released in the United States on May 6, and in Japan on May 22, as the first film in Phase One of the NCU. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but a more positive reception from audiences. It has grossed $677 million worldwide, making it the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2005 and setting box office records for the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and the highest-grossing film based on a video game. Two sequels have been released: Super Mario Bros.: The Movie 2 (2010) and Super Mario Bros.: The Movie 3 (2014).

Plot
Italian-American brothers Mario and Luigi have recently started a plumbing business in Brooklyn. Their father disapproves of Mario's decision to leave his steady job under his antagonistic ex-employer Spike and believes he's dragging Luigi down with him. After seeing a significant manhole 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 lands in the Dark Lands, ruled by the evil Koopa king Bowser. Bowser seeks to marry Peach, and will destroy the Mushroom Kingdom using a Super Star if she refuses. He imprisons Luigi to blackmail Mario, whom he sees as competition for Peach's love. Mario meets Toad, who takes him to Peach. Peach plans to ally with the primate Kongs to help repel Bowser, and agrees to take Mario and Toad along. In the Jungle Kingdom, King Cranky Kong agrees to help on the condition that Mario defeats his son, Donkey Kong, in a fight. Despite Donkey Kong's strength, Mario defeats him using a Tanooki Suit.

Mario, Peach, Toad, and the Kongs use karts to drive back to the Mushroom Kingdom, but Bowser's army ambushes them on Rainbow Road. When a Koopa General destroys part of the road, Mario and Donkey Kong plummet to the ocean and are eaten by an eel-like Maw-Ray 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. Mario and Donkey Kong, after bonding over how their respective dads never take their decisions seriously, escape the Maw-Ray by riding a rocket from Donkey Kong's kart and hurry to Bowser and Peach's wedding.

At the wedding reception, Bowser intends to execute all of his prisoners in lava in Peach's honor. Toad smuggles an Ice Flower in Peach's bouquet, which Peach uses to freeze Bowser. Mario and Donkey Kong arrive and free the prisoners, with Mario using a Tanooki Suit to save Luigi. An enraged Bowser frees himself and summons a Banzai 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 causes Bowser's castle to be transported to Brooklyn. As they fight Bowser, Mario and Luigi grab the Super Star, become invincible, and defeat the Koopas. Bowser is shrunk with a Mini Mushroom and imprisoned. Mario and Luigi are hailed as heroes and celebrated by Brooklyn's populace, including their parents and Spike. In the aftermath of the battle, Mario and Luigi move into a new house together in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Voice cast
Additionally, Khary Payton voices the Penguin King, and Eric Bauza is slated to appear in a yet-undisclosed role. Martinet, who serves as the regular voice actor for Mario and Luigi among other characters in the video games, will appear in "surprise cameos" in the film.
 * Dan Fogler as Mario, a former plumber from Brooklyn who travelled to the Mushroom Kingdom to save Princess Peach from Bowser with Luigi.
 * Reese Witherspoon as Princess Peach, the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom who is captured by Bowser and is the love interest of Mario.
 * Andy Samberg as Luigi, the scared younger brother of Mario, who assists him in his mission to save Princess Peach from Bowser.
 * Benedict Cumberbatch as Bowser, a Koopa from another dimension who captures Princess Peach to force her to become his wife.
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, the royal guard of the Mushroom Kingdom who is friends with Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Yoshi.
 * Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, A tie-wearing gorilla.
 * Chris Tucker as Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong's little brother.
 * John Witherspoon as Cranky Kong, Donkey Kong's grandfather.
 * Jim Carrey as Waluigi, the evil counterpart of Luigi who tries to capture him and Mario for Bowser with the help of Wario.
 * Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike: The supervisor of the Wrecking Crew.
 * Charles Martinet, who voices Mario and Luigi in the Mario games, makes cameo appearances throughout the film.
 * Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek: A wizard and Bowser's servant and advisor.

Development
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 Viacom and DreamWorks Pictures founder Steven Spielberg were released revealing that Paramount Pictures had been attempting to secure the film rights to the Mario franchise for nearly three years. Chairman Jonathan Dolgen, CEO Sherry Lansing and Vice President William Bernstein visited Nintendo in Tokyo in February and July 1996 in an attempt to secure a deal. In October, Spielberg emailed Rothman and said he had never made the deal with Nintendo. Paramount suggested recruiting Nickelodeon Movies' Harriet the Spy director Bronwen Hughes to help develop the project, while Greenstein said he could "think of 3–4 movies right out of the gate" and expressed hope in "build[ing] a Marioempire." However, after the emails leaked, Panitch 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 and Carl Rosendahl, founder of PDI. 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 Columbia Pictures 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 Pascal co-producing. Katzenberg said the film was a "priority" for Sony 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 Sony 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, Joe Stillman, J. David Stem, and David N. Weiss attached as screenwriters after previously scribing DreamWorks' Shrek 2 (2004).

Casting
Shigeru Miyamoto announced that Dan Fogler, Reese Witherspoon, Andy Samberg, Benedict Cumberbatch, Keegan-Michael Key, Kevin Michael Richardson, 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; voice actor Khary Payton described Fogler's voice a "cousin to the Sopranos". Voice actress Tara Strong criticized Fogler's casting and expressed a preference for Martinet to voice Mario instead, lamenting on what she described to be Hollywood's disregard of professional voice actors. In response to the 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 film, he's perfect for it."

Plot details were kept secret from the actors during recording, according to Samberg, 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 scene. Upon the trailer's release, voice actors Khary Payton and Eric Bauza confirmed their parts in the film; Payton voices the Penguin King and Bauza is slated to appear in a yet-undisclosed role.

Animation work and voice recording
Animation work began on August 11, 2002, 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 18, 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

Miyamoto confirmed that Harry Gregson-Williams is set to compose the score for the film. Gregson-Williams is working closely with longtime Mario composer Koji Kondo to incorporate themes from the games within the film's score. Recording sessions for the score began on November 17, 2004, at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros. Warner Bros. Studios].

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.: The Movie premiered at the AMC Empire 25 in New York City, on April 28, 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.: The Movie was released on VHS and DVD on November 1, 2005, in wide- and full-screen editions, by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film was released on Blu-ray on September 19, 2006. 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
As of May 16, 2005, Super Mario Bros.: The Movie has grossed $347.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $330.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $677.9 million, becoming the fourth-highest grossing film of 2005.

In the United States and Canada, Super Mario Bros.: The Movie was released alongside XXX: State of the Union, and was initially projected to gross around $125 million from 4,025 theaters in Friday-to-Sunday 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 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life 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. The film surpassed Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith for 2005's biggest opening weekend. Overall, Super Mario Bros.: The Movie generated the third-highest domestic opening weekend for any animated film, after The Incredibles and Shrek 2. It over-performed in other territories, making $173 million for a global opening weekend of $377.2 million, surpassing The Day After Tomorrow 's record. It also became the highest-grossing film based on a video game after just one week of release.

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