Miyamoto believes The Super Mario Bros. Movie has solved the challenges with video game movies
Many games have been adapted for the big screen over the years, but more often than not, they don’t turn out that well. Nintendo is now taking its first shot in this area with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an animated take on its legendary platforming franchise.
Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto believes that the upcoming film will solve issues that have previously impacted film adaptations of games. During a financial results briefing this week, he said that two problems have been kept in mind. The first is that “with video games, it is the gaming experience that makes them compelling, so a movie that adheres to the story of a game will not necessarily be interesting.” Also brought up is how “people who have played the game will expect a movie experience that is faithful to their memories of the game, while those who have never played the game will expect a movie that is enjoyable as an independent piece of entertainment.” Miyamoto said that Nintendo and Illumination “spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out how to overcome these two challenges.”
Miyamoto’s full words:
“For The Super Mario Bros. Movie, I have been working together with Mr. Chris Meledandri, the founder and CEO of Illumination, from the start, through seven years of planning and six years of production. During that time, we have thought a lot about the appeal of transforming games into films and about what audiences are looking for.
With novels and comics, people have already enjoyed their stories, so I think movie adaptations guarantee a certain amount of enjoyment. But with video games, it is the gaming experience that makes them compelling, so a movie that adheres to the story of a game will not necessarily be interesting. Moreover, people who have played the game will expect a movie experience that is faithful to their memories of the game, while those who have never played the game will expect a movie that is enjoyable as an independent piece of entertainment. We spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out how to overcome these two challenges. While it is a bit presumptuous to say so myself, I think we managed to get it right, so I hope you will enjoy the movie.
Since around 2014, we have been conducting business to expand the number of people who have access to Nintendo IP. Nintendo has transitioned from a maker of hanafuda playing cards to a maker of western playing cards to a video game company, but an important aspect throughout these changes is that Nintendo has held many characters and IP of its own. I like to think of Nintendo as an entertainment agency full of world-class talent. These days, we live in a world where companies that deploy and maintain their infrastructure are inevitably in power. But we want to be a strong company that can match up against anyone by creating and managing content, as well as having the capability to disseminate the content ourselves.”
The Super Mario Bros. Movie will hit theaters on April 7, 2023. In case you missed it, you can check out the first trailer here.
