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The 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie's first screenplay was written by the same man who handled Rain Man

by rawmeatcowboy
22 March 2018
GN Version 5.0

Barry Morrow is the man behind the original story and screenplay for the 1988 Best Picture, Rain Man. At poine point in time, he was also a writer tied to the Super Mario Bros. movie.

Yes, believe it or not, the main force behind Rain Man was almost the man to bring Mario and Luigi to the silver screen. Morrow penned a version of the script that is described quite similar to Rain Man. So much so, that the production staff actually nicknamed the draft Drain Man. Morrow's treatment saw Mario and Luigi head out on an existential road trip, where Mario was the brains and Luigi was a savant.

When that script was shelved, the team of Jim Jennewein and Tom S Parker tried their luck. The two had previously worked together on The Flintstones and Ri¢hie Ri¢h. Jennewein and Parker wanted to create a fantasy movie that took place completely in the Mushroom Kingdom. Unfortunately that draft was ditched as well.

This takes us up to the adaptation that actually made it to theaters. Makes you wonder why the other two versions were shelved in favor of what we got!

Thanks to HourlyTerrier for the heads up!

[Link]