Universal and Illumination’s Nintendo movie Super Mario Bros about the famed videogame plumbers, kart drivers and squashers of turtles is zipping from its planned December 21 release date to April 7, which is Easter weekend 2023.
Chris Pratt will be the voice of the titular video game character which will be a new take on Mario than previous voice actor Charles Martinet, who voiced the Mario, Luigui, Wario, and Walugi since 1992. In an interview with Variety, the actor mentions he worked with directors Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath to differentiate from the previous iterations of the character.
“I worked really closely with the directors and trying out a few things and landed on something that I’m really proud of and can’t wait for people to see and hear,” Pratt said. “It’s an animated voiceover narrative. It’s not a live-action movie. I’m not gonna be wearing a plumber suit running all over. I’m providing a voice for an animated character, and it is updated and unlike anything you’ve heard in the Mario world before.”
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go! and Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The Lego Movie 2 and next summer’s Illumination film Minions: The Rise of Gru), Super Mario Bros stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as 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 is produced by Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. The film will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo and released worldwide by Universal Pictures.
