Those of you secretly hoping to see Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros reappear on the big screen, we have good news. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nintendo is about to ink a deal with Illumination Entertainment to make an animation movie based on Super Mario.
For the uninitiated, Illumination Entertainment is the studio behind popular animation flicks such as Minions, Despicable Me, and The Secret Life of Pets, among others.
The report claims that the two companies have been negotiating for about a year. Worth noting, Nintendo is known for being ultra-protective of their intellectual property. The fact that Universal, which funds and distributes Illumination’s movies, has collaborated with Nintendo for several theme parks in the past probably helped in the negotiations.
Initially, the deal will be for only one Super Mario Bros movie – the first in decades. However, there is certainly potential for more if everything goes as per plan.
Note that neither Nintendo nor Illumination Entertainment has announced anything with regard to the rumored deal. But the news falls in line with the Japanese gaming company’s ongoing push to move beyond the realm of traditional video games. As part of this effort, the company had already started a mobile initiative to reach new customers and joined forces with brands such as Vans and Uniqlo for new clothing lines.
Not just that, Nintendo also entered an agreement with Universal for Nintendo-themed attractions in various theme parks. The timing for a new Super Mario Bros movie also seems near perfect considering the Mario fever is in full swing. This is evident from the fact that the Super Mario Run for mobile has been download over 200 million times since its release.