Nintendo & Illumination Partner For New Movie Starring Mario

January 31, 2018February 1, 2018 Craig Majaski 0 Comments

Announced a few moments ago at the Nintendo Strategy Briefing, Mr. Kimishima confirmed that a brand new Mario movie is in development with Illumination – the studio behind the popular Despicable Me franchise. Nintendo has confirmed that Mr. Miyamoto (creator of Mario) is co-producing alongside Chris Meledandri (producer of Despicable Me). At this point we don’t have any more details or launch window, but we’re sure to hear more soon.

Nintendo and Illumination are partnering on a movie starring Mario, co-produced by Shigeru Miyamoto and Chris Meledandri! pic.twitter.com/wVRPLIzcGJ
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 1, 2018

Illumination and Nintendo Begin Development
on Animated Film Based on the World of Super Mario Bros.

Illumination (HQ: Santa Monica, CA USA) and Nintendo Co., Ltd., (HQ: Kyoto Minami-ku; Representative Director and President: Tatsumi Kimishima) today announced a partnership to develop a movie starring the Mario character.

The project will be produced by Chris Meledandri, Founder and CEO of Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director, Fellow of Nintendo.

The film will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo and distributed theatrically worldwide by Universal Pictures.

With this project, Nintendo will pursue its goals of effectively leveraging its intellectual properties in mediums outside of video games, and of bringing smiles to people around the world.

With this project, Illumination will continue to fulfill its mission of infusing joy and discovery into every property, allowing worldwide audiences of all ages to connect with the beloved characters and story from one of the world’s most popular franchises.

About Illumination

Illumination, founded by Academy Award® nominee Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of event-animated films. The company’s franchises include two of the top-four animated films of all time, and its iconic, beloved brands-infused with memorable and distinct characters, global appeal and cultural relevance-have grossed more than $5.7 billion worldwide.

Illumination was recently honored by Fast Company as one of the world’s most innovative companies.

About Nintendo

The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Nintendo Switch™ system and the Nintendo 3DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.5 billion video games and more than 710 million hardware units globally, including Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS™ family of systems, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™, Nintendo GameCube™, Wii and Wii U™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™.

Craig Majaski

Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age.