Could The Success of ‘The Super Mario Bros’ Movie Lead To A Nintendo Cinematic Universe
With the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie could Nintendo be entering it’s cinematic universe era?
Nintendo is like the Disney of gaming if you didn’t know. They hold the rights and creation of some of the most beloved characters and storylines in gaming. Aside from the mega hit that has been Mario Bros. both in gaming and now in film they also own the rights to Zelda. Years ago Nintendo released a very cinematic and open world concept (the first ever for this title) in Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The scope and detail of the game was unlike anything we’ve seen before in Link’s adventures as the savior of Hyrule although some could argue that Twilight Princess was the groundwork for the immense detail we are treated to in Breath of the Wild. Now years later (almost a decade) May will showcase the release of a direct sequel to BotW in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. With a built in fanbase in the millions and a well thought out and detailed backstory could Zelda fans be rewarded with a big screen debut? Breath of the Wild and now Tears of the Kingdom span centuries in storytelling of this age old battle against Ganondorf to save the kingdom Hyrule from his destructive powers. Also, many Zelda fans for decades now have been asking to play as Zelda (just google the game mods it’s wild). Seeing Princess Peach shine with more agency in The Super Mario Bros. movie could be the change we’ve been wishing for. Will Princess Zelda, the namesake of this insanely successful franchise finally have agency? Well, Tears of the Kingdom drops on May 12th and it seems Princess Zelda is going far into the past as Link traverses the kingdom of Hyrule in the present. Will she have her own storyline, one that is playable to gamers? Zelda has been building a coherent and well tied together storyline which is ripe for production. Will we finally play as Zelda? Only time will tell. You can check out the trailer below.
Could games be the new “Page to Screen” adaptations? We don’t see the rich world of books being left behind in story, but with the popularity of superheroes it isn’t too far fetched with the success of Mario to think games may be the next big thing in Hollywood. Gaming is already the silent killer in the entertainment industry. What do we mean by that? Well games make billions more than film and tv…why not BE film and tv too?
We’ve begun to see this shift with the Halo tv series adaptation, as well as previous films like World of Warcraft (which wasn’t that well done don’t blame the game). Or the mega hit that was Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie in the 00’s, we’re still devestated we didn’t get a follow-up to Alicia Vikander’s take on the icon. But, they weren’t Nintendo. Nintendo is a beast unto it’s own. Other massive titles in Nintendo include Kirby, Splatoon, Donkey Kong (who is featured in Mario but..) he can hold his own film. Mario is the number one grossing game of all time in terms of sales across titles and now it’s heading to be the largest grossing animated feature. Could Nintendo also be working towards a Super Smash Bros. Universe? Can you imagine an autumnal drop of Luigi’s Mansion in film form? Massive. Or the intergalctic adventures of Star Fox on the big screen? Mario has now laid the goundwork to show Nintendo what interest the public has in their favorite games becoming features, even series and we’d even love to enjoy some shorts for characters like Pikmin. Not to mention we’d imagine that this would also boost game sales. They might even get wild and give the voice actors from your favorite franchises residuals. Yeah. You read that correctly, voice actors get paid a flat fee for games that make sometimes triple the amount in sales than their film and tv counterparts, make it make sense.
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MARIO WILL BE SPOILED
The Super Mario Bros. Movie ends with a bonus scene that includes a glimpse at Yoshi. Ever since the scene has made an appearance rumors have run rampid about a possible Yoshi movie follow up. What do you think? How much would you love Yoshi as our next project to enjoy from Nintendo’s cinematic universe’s potential? Let us know your thoughts.
