Tag: Illumination

Illumination Head Denies Recent ‘The Legend of Zelda’ Rumors

Not too long ago, there was a rumor circulating that Illumination and Nintendo were already setting their eyes on the next franchise to adapt. While most assumed we’d be seeing more from Super Mario Bros., the rumor hinted that Nintendo might be hoping to also work with the animation company to adapt one of their other iconic franchises, The Legend of Zelda.

Studio head Chris Meledandri got a chance to denounce the rumors in an interview with The Wrap and offers some insight into why he believes the rumor made the rounds. Mostly his close ties with Nintendo and the success of working on The Super Mario Bros. Movie that people naturally make the assumption that they’d jump into any project they might want to animate.

I don’t know where that came from. I mean I can understand how people would surmise all sorts of things because obviously, we’ve had a great experience working together. My relationship with Nintendo now includes being on their board of directors, so I understand how people can surmise these things. But in terms of the specifics, that was just something that I’ve been hearing lots of reports. This is just about what’s next between Nintendo and Illumination.
Chris Meledandri

There was some concern that the rumor ended up true. Illumination’s animation style meshed quite well with a character like Mario, whose variety of projects offers them to establish their own take on the character while staying true to the source material. The Legend of Zelda simply wouldn’t mesh well with the way they tackle their projects, even if they’d go with a take inspired by the character’s more chibi designs from the earliest days.

Source: The Wrap

June 15, 2023
RUMOR: Illumination May Tackle a ‘The Legend of Zelda’ Film Next

Nintendo might be quite happy with what Illumination and Universal Studios managed to accomplish with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. It was a nostalgia-filled romp through the Mushroom Kingdom that brought together the many stories and elements from the franchise’s history. Going by online videos of kids singing Peaches from Jack Black, it definitely was a hit for a new generation as well and it wouldn’t be surprising if they are mapping out a sequel.

Yet, a new rumor from The Hot Mic might be hinting at them focusing on another project moving forward. Nintendo might be set to once again tackle another one of their iconic franchises with Illumination and it’s none other than their other biggest franchise, The Legend of Zelda. For now, it’s still a rumor but it wouldn’t be too surprising if they are interested in sticking to an animated form and it’s still in a deal closing phase.

It would be a shame if they are going to restrict themselves to just doing Illumination-style projects, especially with a franchise that has a more clearly defined storyline and high-fantasy concept to work off of. The Legend of Zelda would work quite well in live-action and it would be great to have Nintendo expand its ventures beyond just a single partner that only allows them to put out a restricted amount of projects.

Plus, if they just stick to Illumination’s style of animation, it would not allow other franchisees to stand out from each other. Metroid would be an amazing science-fiction franchise but they might lean a bit too much into the usual comedy style one sees with Minions, The Secret Lifes of Pets, and more. Of course, it only is a rumor for now but we’ll have to see if they make an announcement at some point in the future.

Source: YouTube

June 8, 2023
‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Wahooing Towards $127.5M 5-Day Opening Weekend

Even as the reviews from critics are surprisingly harsh, it seems that the collaboration between Illumination, Universal, and Nintendo is heading towards that 1-Up Mushroom, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie is looking to make quite a big bang at the box office this weekend. Wednesday previews are already looking strong and are heading towards $26M sans Tuesday previews, which would potentially mean an $86.2M 3-day opening.

Luckily for it, this will be a 5-day opening and it’ll likely end up around $127.5M, which would put it on the path to becoming the biggest opening for a video game-based adaptation. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opened to $26.3M but that was including Thursday previews. It held the 3-day record at $72.1M and while critics haven’t loved the Nintendo film, audiences seemingly do going by its Rotten Tomatoes.

Not just that, this film will also pull in the best 5-day debut for Illumination since Despicable Me 2‘s $143M back in 2013. With some strong legs, the film has a good chance of starting its own cinematic universe, as post-credit sequences have already been teased (Luigi’s Mansion, anyone?). The only question is if the legs will hold as family audiences haven’t really been reliable going by previous entries, but this film might be why they weren’t showing up; COVID has led to many saving up for the big releases.

Source: Deadline

April 5, 2023
Illumination’s President Praises Chris Pratt’s Performance as Mario

When the news hit that Chris Pratt was going to voice Mario, many were a bit surprised by the choice. The cast generally led to quite a few reactions with a stacked cast including Jack Black as Bowser and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. It didn’t help matters that Pratt was cast for an upcoming animated Garfield film, which added to the jokes that any animated character could be voiced by the Guardians of the Galaxy actor.

In an interview with Animation Magazine, Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri had a lot of praise for his performance, as he went on to highlight that many of the criticism will be mute once they get to see his performance in action.

When people hear Chris Pratt’s performance, the criticism will evaporate, maybe not entirely — people love to voice opinions, as they should. I’m not sure this is the smartest defense, but as a person who has Italian-American heritage, I feel I can make that decision without worrying about offending Italians or Italian-Americans… I think we’re going to be just fine.
Chris Pratt

It definitely is still a curious casting, especially when the character of Mario has such an iconic voice. Charles Martinet voiced the character since 1992 and is confirmed to appear in the upcoming animated film. Yet, it simply seems odd not to use the man who defined the character all those years ago if they’re going for an animated project, to begin with. We’ll have to wait and see what the project has to offer once the first trailer arrives.

Source: Animation Magazine

June 21, 2022
Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco Reveals Involvement in Animated ‘Super Mario’ Movie

Video game franchises have always had it rough when it comes to feature film adaptions. Not even Nintendo could avoid the curse. Back in 1993, the popular Super Mario Bros. franchise was adapted for the big screen, with the project starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the titular brothers. The project was less than well received and fans rather not speak much of it. But it doesn’t seem like that was the final nail in the coffin for its future in Hollywood. An animated film is currently in the works from Illumination, which are best known for the films Despicable Me, Minions, and Sing.

Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco was recently on Bert Kreischer’s podcast, where he revealed that he would be going to the studio following the Podcast to record lines for the film. Not just that, but he also confirmed he would be voicing a character known as Foreman Spike. The character first appeared in the 1985 game Wrecking Crew.

Not much is known about the movie, aside from Illuminations Chris Meledandri co-producing the project alongside the creator of the Mario Bros. franchise, Shigeru Miyamoto. The project has yet to officially add anyone to its cast or even add a director, but Maniscalo confirms the film is in active development and casting has already happened.

The film is still slated to release sometime in 2022, although no specific release has been revealed. It’s unknown if the pandemic caused any delays in production. As our first real hint at the film’s production, we hopefully will get some more news in the near future.

Source: NintendoWire

August 9, 2021