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Somehow, it’s already been a full year since The Super Mario Bros. Movie hit cinemas around the world. There was plenty of excitement for the film leading up to its release, but no one expected it to be the ginormous hit that it was. Breaking records worldwide and still bringing in millions of eyes every month, The Super Mario Bros. Movie remains one of the most impressive movie releases of the last few years.

In honor of the film’s first anniversary, Chris Pratt, the voice of Mario in the movie, took to Instagram to share some thoughts about the project. You can see his full comments on The Super Mario Bros. Movie below.

In possibly one of the strangest things to appear at CES this week, videos are being shared of a new holographic Mario that uses AI to answer a variety of questions. It’s unclear as to where exactly this would be used, if it ever would be, but the Target logo in the bottom left suggests it could appear in stores to help shoppers.

Check out the live demonstration below, where Mario helps Twitter User Greggory with buying video games and eating healthier. Seeing as he didn’t recommend any mushrooms, the algorithm must have been trained on Chris Pratt’s rendition of the character…

Greggory promises to capture more footage of our new Italian overlords soon enough, so stay tuned.

There’s no word as to whether Nintendo themselves are involved in this project. However, it seems unlikely that they at the very least didn’t give the ok to use Mario’s likeness in this demonstration. The project is clearly still in development, with the voice especially needing some work. That being said, I don’t hate this, especially if it can get to the point where it gives us a good representation of Mario. At the very least it could lead to some funny encounters, similar to the one above.

On November 7th, 2023, Nintendo announced that they would be working with Sony to produce a live action Legend of Zelda Movie with Shigeru Miyamoto taking the helm, just as he did with 2023’s Super Mario Bros. Movie. Not surprisingly, the news has been met with surprise and concern from fans. While Mario’s return to the silver screen saw extreme financial success, it suffered critically, especially from those who weren’t already fans of the series.

Given the extreme quality that has come to be expected of the Zelda name, many fans are worried that this latest multimedia experiment from Nintendo could potentially tarnish the series. This is only made worse when considering how Nintendo’s last attempt at a live-action movie adaptation, 1993’s Super Mario Bros., scared the company off of movie-making for 30 years.

While we wait for more concrete details, let’s take a look at what we know about the Legend of Zelda adaptation in order to paint as realistic a picture as possible. (I’ll even throw in my own ideas for how a Zelda movie could potentially work.)

Gather your friends and family – The Super Mario Bros. Movie joins Sky Cinema and Now’s movie line-up on Christmas Day!

Sky TV and Now members with a Sky Cinema subscription or Cinema Membership can watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie throughout the holiday season and beyond. Check out the Sky TV guide listings for more details on exact broadcast times. You’ll also be able to stream it on demand at a time that suits you!

While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt; Jurassic World and The LEGO Movie franchises) and brother Luigi (Charlie Day; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi.

With the assistance of a Mushroom Kingdom resident Toad (Keegan-Michael Key; The Lion King) and some training from the strong-willed ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy;The Queen’s Gambit), Mario taps into his own power.

Join IGN as they take you through the evolution of Mario’s voice.

For the first time in over 20 years, there’s a new Mario voice actor in video games. But despite the consistency of Charles Martinet, the history of Mario’s iconic voice is more complicated than you might first think, with the iconic plumber having dozens of different takes over his 30-year lifespan.

From Lou Albano to Chris Pratt, and Bob Hoskins to Kevin Afghani, this is the evolution of Super Mario’s voice.

Nintendo released a bombshell of an announcement earlier today, revealing that Charles Martinet would be stepping down as the voice of Mario, along with all the other Mario characters he performs. While the biggest question on everyone’s mind is why, the follow-up question is no doubt who will be stepping into his shoes?

While Nintendo has already said that the new voice of Mario will be revealed in Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s credits, the internet is ablaze with speculation on who is taking on the iconic role. That speculation has led to a firestorm of people trying to cash in on the discussion, and the topic is already running rampant on betting sites.

Bovada, an online betting site, is already taking bets for who people think will be revealed as the voice of Mario. While we honestly have no idea who’s taking the reigns, Bovada has quite a ludicrous list of choices to pick from:

• Dan Castellaneta +3000
• Chris Pratt +4000
• Nancy Cartwright +4000
• Pete Davidson +5000
• Hank Azaria +6000
• Nicolas Cage +6000
• Al Pacino +8000
• Trey Parker +8000
• Seth MacFarlane +10000

I think we all know it’s safe to say that none of these actors will be portraying Mario in games going forward, but Pratt is certainly a safe bet for future cinematic installments. Do you have any guesses as to who will be taking on the role of Mario going forward?

Here in America, there was a stigma for decades about movie/TV show actors appearing in commercials. For whatever reason, taking on the gig of spokesperson was seen as a demotion. In recent years that’s certainly changed, but we still have a long way to go in catching up to other parts of the world.

One perfect example comes from Korea, where a new series of Fortnite commercials has kicked off. Believe it or not, Epic has chosen Chris Pratt as the face of Fortnite in Korea. We’re not sure how/why Epic thought Pratt was the man to go to, but they clearly have some data that points to his notoriety helping boost Fortnite in the region.

You can see the full series of Fortnite x Chris Pratt commercials below.

In this clip titled “The World of Mario Bros!,” the cast reminisces about playing the Super Mario Bros. game and what it meant to them. The filmmakers discuss having the rich, decades-long world of the video game to draw from for the film. The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be available on 4K, Blu-ray+Digital and DVD on June 13, 2023.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie tells the story of two Brooklyn plumbers who are brothers and best friends: Mario, the brave one with the “let’s-a go” attitude, and the perpetually anxious Luigi, who would prefer to go nowhere. We open with the Super Mario Brothers reckoning with their struggling plumbing business, and wind up in a whirlwind adventure through Mushroom Kingdom. Through their journey, we meet a cast of familiar, lovable characters, ultimately uniting together to defeat the power-hungry villain, Bowser.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie takes what millions of gamers worldwide have loved for thirty-five years and levels it up to a new and breathtaking cinematic experience.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie has been an incredible success, securing the spot of second highest-grossing animated movie of all-time. That achievement has surpassed all expectations, including those of Chris Pratt.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Pratt spoke up about the movie’s success along with the sequel.

According to Pratt, once the writers strike is cleared up, we should expect some news on The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s follow-up ‘soon.’

When Chris Pratt was revealed as the voice of Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the internet lost its collective mind, and not in a good way. Many wondered why Charles Martinet wasn’t handling the voice, or at the very least, an actor who more fit into that style. Turns out actor Sebastian Maniscalco was wondering the same thing.

During an appearance on LIVE with Kelly and Mark, Sebastian Maniscalco talked quickly about his work on The Super Mario Bros. Movie. You can hear Maniscalco’s work through Spike, who pops up quite early in the movie. Spike gets just a tiny bit of screen time in the film, but Maniscalco originally wanted a much meatier role in Mario.

In the clip below, you can see Sebastian talk about his audition for the voice of Mario in the film, and why it didn’t end up panning out.

Just last week, we had a special behind-the-scenes video for the Super Mario Bros. Movie that featured Chris Pratt introducing himself and his work on the film. Now that clip is being followed by similar videos featuring Jack Black and Charlie Day. You can check both of those out in this post.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), The Super Mario Bros. Movie 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 is co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo and released worldwide by Universal Pictures.

The story of Super Mario as we know it began in the mid 80’s with the release of Super Mario Bros. for the NES – a humble arcade platformer developed by Nintendo that featured the titular character, Mario, running and jumping his way through a variety of levels all in pursuit of saving Princess Toadstool, aka Peach.

Unbeknownst to Nintendo at the time, Mario would soon become the face and brand of the company as a whole, soaring in popularity through the 90’s to eventually becoming the household name that he is today. For nearly 4 decades, we’ve seen countless Mario games, tons of tie-in merchandise, and even more recently a whole theme park! However, in all that time, there has only been one concerted effort by Nintendo to create a feature film based on the little red plumber… and it failed miserably! Sure, it’s achieved a ‘cult classic’ status among some fans, but that is far removed from the expectations Nintendo likely had for it.

The original Super Mario Bros. film released in 1993, after which fans received nothing but radio silence as far as Nintendo-based film adaptations were concerned. That is, until 2018, when it was revealed to the world that not only would Nintendo be making a grand return to the big screen, but they wouldn’t be doing it alone. They would also be working with Illumination to produce an animated Mario movie. Naturally, many fans had their concerns.

I’ve been a fan of Super Mario my whole life, with 1996’s Super Mario 64 being the first video game I ever owned, as well as THE game to introduce me to the medium as a whole. Now, all these years later, I consider the Super Mario brand to be a major part of who I am today. So, when the news of a new film came through, I was cautiously optimistic – especially when considering how Nintendo’s first outing went.

Thankfully, now that the film is out in full, I can confidently state that 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a fantastic adaptation of one of gaming’s most iconic characters. That’s not to say the film is without its flaws, but for fans like myself who have effectively been waiting for this moment all their lives… it’s good to report that it lives up to the hype.

Join star Chris Pratt for a discussion about his character, Mario, in this featurette for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), The Super Mario Bros. Movie 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 is co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo and released worldwide by Universal Pictures.

It’s a three-man crew this week, but that doesn’t keep us from having a great time. We talk about voice actor hatred, Nintendo going after Zelda videos, our thoughts on the Suzume movie, the major Mario movie success and plenty more. Come join us!

Thanks to Donut Muffin for putting together this week’s timestamps!

• 0:00:32 Intro
• 0:00:58 Alcremie Description
• 0:03:01 Crew’s Here?
• 0:05:15 Hello to Our Discord
• 0:07:20 Gamecube Discussion
• 0:09:23 Shout-Out to Weapon Next aka Logan Lynch
• 0:11:57 Suzume Discussion
• 0:23:02 Sony Shade Discussion
• 0:26:45 Resident Evil 4, Hate Spewers Discussion
• 0:42:56 Redfall, Framerate Discussion
• 0:49:01 PointCrow Youtuber, Nintendo on Modded Content Discussion
• 0:59:15 Can You Take Us to News, Please?
• 0:59:35 The Super Mario Bros. Movie Is Breaking Records
• 1:00:18 Illumination Used Unreleased Nintendo Sketches to Flesh Out Mario’s Family
• 1:02:31 Chris Pratt Almost Used a Tony Soprano-Esque Voice for Mario
• 1:06:48 Nintendo Going After Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Art Book Leaker
• 1:13:46 Analyst Predicts The Super Mario Bros. Movie Could Earn $3.5 Billion
• 1:17:05 Nintendo Announces “Nintendo Live 2023” Event for the United States
• 1:19:52 UK Q1 2023 Hardware Sales Detailed, March 2023 Top 10 Software Revealed
• 1:22:38 Japanese Hardware/Software Sales for March 2023 Revealed
• 1:24:03 Monster Hunter Digital Event Set for April 19th, 2023
• 1:24:40 Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Final Pre-Launch Trailer
• 1:27:29 The Super Mario Bros. Theme Is the Library of Congress’s First Videogame Song Added to the National Recording Registry
• 1:30:33 Elderly Couple Wins Wii Sports Bowling Tournament in a Heartwarming Moment
• 1:32:12 GameStop Employee Fired for Leaking Zelda: TotK OLED Switch
• 1:36:24 North American Switch eShop Releases
• 1:40:59 European Switch eShop Releases
• 1:43:42 Nintendo Store Opening in Kyoto, Japan on Oct. 17th, 2023
• 1:44:12 Splatoon X Legend of Zelda Splatfest Announced for Splatoon 3
• 1:47:40 What MomBrain Played
• 1:49:44 What Deux Played
• 1:53:33 What RMC Played
• 2:06:57 Podcast Question
• 2:09:27 Patron Question
• 2:17:50 Music Trivia
• 2:26:32 Deux’s Views: Rumor of the Week
• 2:29:24 Outro
• 2:29:40 Aftershow

The vitriol surrounding the announcement of Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario in the Super Mario Bros. movie was pretty intense. People were absolutely enraged by the decision, with many pledging not to see the film because of the decision. Now that the movie is out and we’ve seen Pratt’s performance, most have labeled it as inoffensive at worst and fine at best.

As has been noted in previous interviews, Pratt took awhile to find the voice for Mario and went through a number of tests. What we hadn’t heard previously is the various directions Pratt went when trying to find the right voice. Thanks to a feature from Variety, we now know that Pratt channeled a New Jersey native in one of his takes.

Pratt reveals that one of his ideas for Mario’s voice was shot down because the directors felt it sounded too much like Tony Soprano, the titular character of the HBO show, The Sopranos.

Of course, now we all want to hear what this Soprano-style voice for Mario would have sounded like. Hopefully someone on the talk show circuit catches wind of this interview and gets Pratt to perform it!