Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath took on the challenge of bringing one of gaming’s biggest mascots to the silver screen with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While it’s not the first full-length cinematic take on the character and the Mushroom Kingdom, it definitely is the closest we’ve ever gotten to the original gaming franchise. According to the directing duo of Teen Titans Go! fame, Nintendo was involved in every step along the way.
From story to visual development to the animation, Nintendo has been with us every step of the way.
Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath
It’s no surprise given just how protective Nintendo is about its intellectual property, especially the one that pretty much put them on the map. Though, it does seem they are also using this film as a chance to tell his “origin tale” with some inspirations from Mario’s many iterations throughout the years. We get the Boston background from the 1993 film, a teaser with the theme song from the original The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
It’s a bit of an origin tale. It’s the story of Mario becoming Super Mario.
Aaron Horvath
Though, they also wanted to have elements from the players that brought the character to life live in the animated adaptation. As such, they took that inspirational approach of Mario representing the player experience in how he will always succeed as long as you don’t give up.
When you play the game, if you don’t give up, Mario will succeed. So we transferred that player experience from the game to a characteristic that [movie] Mario would have.
Aaron Horvath
It’s definitely a great little way of including the player in one way or another in the film. While we won’t have a chance to control the iconic character ourselves, perhaps we’ll get some cool outfits inspired by the movie for the net game entry, as we haven’t had an announcement since Super Mario Odyssey in 2017
Super Mario Bros. Movie hasn’t truly been surrounded by controversy. When we got our first look, the film looked extremely faithful to the original gaming franchise and Nintendo is heavily involved to ensure it’s true to the original. Yet, there was one aspect that had many scratching their head and that was Chris Pratt‘s casting as the main hero.
What did add to the insanity was that Pratt was also cast as the voice of Garfield, which led to an ongoing meme of him voicing every character in pretty much any animated project. Yet, director Aaron Horvath shares that what sold them on him in the role was that “he’s really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart.”
For us, it made total sense. He’s really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart. For the way that Mario is characterised in our film, he’s perfect for it.
Aaron Horvath
Some might argue that he’s long grown out of that type of role, but Guardians of the Galaxy did shape Chris Pratt‘s career and the type of characters he’d end up playing. Now, he’s seemingly become the go-to for that typecasting, though he has also shared his love for the franchise during one of the Nintendo Direct’s promoting the film.
The first trailer did get some criticism for not really showing off Pratt‘s take on the Italian plumber from Boston, but we’ve rarely heard him speak more than a singular line at a time. So, perhaps with more time, we’ll truly see how he brings his iconic accent to life.
Marvel Studios was once quite famous for bein the most tight-lipped studio in the market. Yet, given their popularity, they’ve also become popular victims to a variety of leakers that not just share minor details on the various films but even let entire storylines find their way online. It’s definitely a frustrating experience as rumors from the earliest stages of the production lead to false expectations based on various rumors.
Of course, the pandemic saw some of the biggest leaks due to just how long these projects needed to find their way to theaters. So, it’s not too surprising that they are taking much harsher directions to avoid anyone leaking something. Even its titular stars aren’t safe from it, as Anthony Mackie revealed the process of how many steps there are to read his script for Captain America: New World Order.
Like, today. I literally, I’ll show you the email. I got my script today. Haven’t read it. Haven’t opened it. I haven’t got my passcode to the website that let’s you get to the website. We literally get a passcode to a website that gives us a location to meet the person to sign, to sit with a computer, and read our script.
Anthony Mackie
It must be awkward having someone sit there in a corner just waiting for you to finish reading. Mackie, in his usual charm, jokingly shares what the experience is like with this intern supervisor.
They don’t trust nobody. And it’s always like some 21-year-old intern and he just hates you. You know, he’s sitting there eating Cheetos and he’s like, ‘Read faster,’ you know? And I’m like, ‘I’m dyslexic.’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t care.’ Like it’s, oh, it’s a whole thing
Anthony Mackie
Who knows how far they’ve also gone to ensure nothing leaks from the productions moving forward. There were hints that they also restructured their internal approach to test screenings, which some have criticized but showcases just how much the current rumor mill culture also restricts the way these production studios can work.
Michael B. Jordan is set to make his directorial debut in style, as Creed III is heading to theaters this weekend. To no one’s surprise, the film is set to take the weekend with a strong $36M, though with good word-of-mouth it could even go beyond $40M. As such, it’ll likely dethrone Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which beat out a cocaine-fueled bear last weekend.
It should be noted that this would mark the best opening for the Creed trilogy, as the first opened at $29.6M and its sequel at around $35.5M. The MGM release is also the most expensive film at $75M, so it’ll definitely be interesting to see how far the film goes. It has a good chance to grow to beat the last film’s $214M domestic run. It also marks another big win for Jonathan Majors, who just appeared in Quantumania.
The Ant-Man threequel is expected to hold on to the second spot with around $16M to $19M, but given its massive drop in the second weekend, for now predictions are more on the pessimistic side due tot he B CinemaScore and PostTrack rating. Though, the film is now performing more like an Ant-Man film than an Avengers-style release that could still give it a bit more momentum for the next few weeks before its biggest direct competition releases in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Guy Ritchie‘s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is also heading to theaters but is currently only on track for around $5M though it’s unclear if it’ll go higher given it received a more mixed critical reception. We also have Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba: To the Swordsmith Village heading for a strong $7.5M over the weekend. Cocaine Bear and Jesus Revolution are also expected to have decent holds to round out the weekend. Expectations are they’ll hold on to $10M and $8M respectively.
With every Avengers movie, it becomes a big question of who we might see take on a major role in the project. Throughout the last three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was easy to follow the main cast that’ll appear in these films but as the franchise continues to grow, there are many more opportunities to see some new familiar faces.
Many are excited about the prospects of their favorite characters having a major role in an Avengers film, especially with the more diverse offerings with Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, Spider-Man, and many more. We also have the upcoming new additions of Blade and the long-awaited Fantastic Four, though it seems that they may not have a role in the next Avengers film, The Kang Dynasty.
In an interview with Gizmodo, Jeff Loveness revealed that he’s hard at work on The Kang Dynasty and is seemingly actively trying not to have any of the other projects shape his work in some way. As such, he hints that he’ll “probably not even” include the Fantastic Four or Blade in the upcoming Avengers sequel.
But much like when I took on this Ant-Man job, I can’t really focus on that outside stuff. I have just got to lay down the bones of a good story, hopefully, and find the characters that I want to tell [it]. And then it becomes a game of ping pong with the other people. Like whoever comes on and does Fantastic Four or Blade or—I’m probably not even using those characters, you know—but it all informs itself. And so, you just keep an ear open if [someone says], “Hey, if Blade wants to jump in, go for it, man.” But it’s up to me to focus on my movie and, you know, work with [Michael] Waldron a little bit on his thing to make sure it all kind of makes sense. But I think the second you start looking at the 25 other movies coming out, you get a little lost in the sauce.
Jeff Loveness
He does keep the door open and who knows if Marvel Studios might consider some rewrites from Avengers veterans to help find the balance between the various crossovers. Still, it’s great that Loveness stands by his approach to creating a singular story which he also highlighted for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While it didn’t get the reception as hoped, it still shows he just loves telling a good story.
In a surprising twist, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, Rings of Power, is about to get its biggest competition yet in Warner Bros. Discovery, as they purchased the rights to once again create films based around the iconic novels of J.R.R. Tolkien. While their future is uncertain about where they are going with this new take, it does seem they are once again being quite ambitious.
According to insiders, it seems that Warner Bros. has high hopes to turn Lord of the Rings into their Star Wars. They seem to ambitiously want to explore stories that all take place in the same world that offer different glimpses of this sprawling fantasy world created decades ago. It’s an ambitious thought, though raises more questions on how exactly they hope to achieve it.
Unlike Star Wars, they don’t have a galaxy worth of storytelling with a franchise that is steeped in a wide variety of genres. Marvel and DC at least have decades of history with a broad range of characters they can bring to the silver screen, yet Lord of the Rings is mostly famous for two distinct stories.
Every new franchise nowadays is more than just an ongoing series of films. We are long away from the days of trilogies or even long-running film series like Harry Potter. The Cinematic Universe is the template everyone aspires to be and that takes a visionary to push it forward. Warner Bros. already found their Kevin Feige in James Gunn and Peter Safran, but they have their eyes on another to revive their latest milestone franchise.
Just after announcing to the world that they have acquired the rights to make Lord of the Rings films during the Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, insiders are hinting that they also already know who they want on board. After Amazon fumbled the bag, the production studio hopes to have Peter Jackson, the director of the original trilogy and TheHobbit trilogy, to bring this franchise back.
Not just Jackson, but also his writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, who are “precious talent” for the studio. The biggest challenge ahead though is if this new film franchise can exist opposite the Amazon TV series, as they try to avoid them blurring the lines between these two takes on the same property. That will be quite tricky as they had the film’s original composer Howard Shore work on the main title.
Amazon already has a 50-hour commitment to the series and is currently busy filming the second season. Showrunners Patrick McKay and J.D. Payne are still working on the project that was supposedly one of Amazon’s biggest shows ever but was given a rather mixed reception by the Internet and critics. It is still surprising they never went for the film rights, especially with MGM Studio now being a part of their expanding media landscape.
As Black History Month comes to a close, we take a look back at the supers that inspire our dress, artistry, and lives. The superhero genre of film, television, and media, in general, wouldn’t be what it is without them. We love and appreciate everyone, but this isn’t an all-inclusive list.
Shaq as Steel
We’d be amiss if we didn’t start the retrospective with Shaq Diesel, the man with the S on his bicep. Shaq portrayed a loose version of John Henry Irons, aka Steel, in the 90s. The film is one of many films that took chances studios don’t risk anymore. We can’t knock what Shaq has done for the community though.
Halle Berry as Catwoman and Storm
Halle Berry worked with the material she was given in both of her superhero appearances, which is a shame because she really does bring nuance to her characters when written well. For multiple generations, she is Storm, so fans are curious about who will bring Ororo to the screen next, but until then, Halle Berry is the epitome.
Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther
When Black Panther first appeared in Captain America: Civil War, many fans weren’t ready or aware of the greatness they would soon experience. Chadwick is the embodiment of all the Black superheroes that came before him.
Cress Williams as Black Lightning
The series led by Cress Williams was able to take advantage of a different lane than most on this list, debuting on The CW and eventually tieing into the Arrowverse. Black Lightning carved a space to discuss religion, race, and society in ways other series never developed.
Javicia Leslie as Batwoman/Ryan Wilder
Javicia Leslie filled the role of Batwoman and new character Ryan Wilder after the role was vacant. This was an amazing opportunity for the actress, as she also joined the Arrowverse for two years and participated in what some consider the most successful live-action universe for DC.
Phil LaMarr as Static Shock and Jon Stewart / Green Lantern
Saturday morning cartoons were rather stale in the 90s before Milestone’s Static Shock appeared on FOX Kids. There’s a current resurgence of the comic, in part thanks to DC’s acquisition of the Milestone brand. We’re hoping rumors of a live-action debut are true. We also know that Green Lantern Corps is on the horizon and with every new iteration of Green Lantern, comes the same question: which version are they going to use? Justice League’s Jon Stewart debuted in 2000 and set the bar so high that he’s appeared in multiple spin-offs of the show. Thanks to LaMarr’s voice acting, Jon Stewart is the quintessential version.
Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam
The Rock was often fan-cast in roles on the regular, but his dream role finally made it to fruition in 2022 with Black Adam. Though the film took a decade and never really escaped controversy, his passion for the project continually resuscitated the dream regardless of where the production found itself. His work for the character is still commendable.
Ray Fisher as Cyborg
Though Ray Fisher only appeared in a few DCEU films and his character’s backstory was slightly muddled, the actor found a new lane as an advocate for the treatment of actors on set. The role wasn’t quite the breakout for him, but he’s still finding work slowly and we expect good things from him.
Wesley Snipes as Blade
There wouldn’t be an MCU without the risk taken in 2009 with Jon Favreau and RDJ, but the real accolades go to Wesley Snipes and team for the Blade trilogy. This was before risk was even a word. Vampires. R-rated. Martial arts emphasis. Greatness.
Michael Jai White as Spawn
Spawn often finds itself overlooked because of the graphic novel and the animated version, but the 1997 live-action release is another reason the superhero genre is what it is today. At one point, superhero movies really fell into two categories: great or flop. Spawn was the former.
Robert Townsend as Meteor Man
It’s always fun to see a sitcom dad take a turn into another fan-favorite genre( i.e. James Avery as the voice of Shredder), so we’d be amiss to not include Robert Townsend as Meteor Man. There’s a bit of a theme here, but 90s superhero films definitely took risks in order to entertain.
Will Smith as Hancock
Before joining the Suicide Squad, Will Smith took on the moniker of Hancock, a small indie style superhero that came from a different planet. This was another example of a hero film taking a risk (though it’s only really seen as a risk these days) with R-rated and grounded content.
Omar Sy as Bishop
When the live-action X-Men series moved into the interesting realm of a future with no mutants, there was only one man that could lead them to survival: Lucas Bishop. Omar Sy brought everyone’s favorite future savior to life and we deserved more time him.
Mike Colter as Luke Cage
Netflix produced some of the quintessential work for Marvel Studios over the last 5 or 6 years and one of the cornerstones of the work is Mike Colter‘s Luke Cage. Even with only a few seasons, Luke Cage carved a space for dialogue that other shows couldn’t scratch the surface.
Anthony Mackie as Falcon & Captain America
Anthony Mackie is slowly moving through all the possible avenues for his character. He’s appeared in solo movies, team-ups, the Captain America trilogy, and led his own Disney+ series. Though his series garnered fair reviews, he might just be in the most anticipated MCU film, officially titledCaptain America: New World Order.
Don Cheadle as War Machine/Col. James Rhodes
Don Cheadle is the other side of the Col. James Rhodes meme, but he’s also fully taken on the role and embodied it. And similar to Mackie with Captain America, Cheadle will soon step into the solo space in Armor Wars, which is now being developed as a film after originally being announced as a streaming series. Cheadle deserves the space to shine.
Shameik Moore as Miles Morales/Spiderman
Audiences have clammored for Miles Morales in live-action for years, but now that we’re on the verge of Moore’s second animated outing, his is the iteration to beat. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse received acclaim from fandoms all over and anticipation for the sequel grows daily.
Djimon Hounsou as Korath, Wizard, and Midnite
Similar to Jackson belo, Djimon Hounsou can do it all. He’s played roles in so many iconic films that it’s difficult to keep track of them all. But when you hear his raspy bass voice, you know he’s going to give his all to the character.
Samuel L. Jackson as Frozone, Nick Fury, and Mr. Glass
With almost 200 productions to date, Jackson can flesh out any role, but some of his top-tier characters are centerpieces in The Incredibles, MCU, and Shyamalan’s Unbreakable universe. With only a few scenes, he can steal the presence of any film.
Jonathan Majors as Kang The Conqueror
The newest baddie on the MCU block, Jonathan Majors, is an unstoppable force so far. There’s no telling where his characterization will be or where he’ll physically be on the timeline the next time we see him on screen, but Majors is a force.
Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger
Before there was Thanos or the aforementioned Majors stealing the show, we had Killmonger. Michael B. Jordan‘s portrayal was one of the earliest iterations of an MCU villain grabbing audiences’ empathy and consequently, the energy of the film. We were blessed to have him return inBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverand hope to visit him a few more times when future BP iterations visit the astral plane.
Terrence Howard as James Rhodes
Terrence Howard may be more popular as a meme, but we’ll still acknowledge that he played James “Rhodey” Rhodes first and helped kick off the MCU opposite RDJ. Howard retired a few times in the past few years, but hopefully, he’ll find peace soon.
Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau/Photon
This one’s special because we’ve only been graced by Teyonah in WandaVision, but the anticipation for The Marvels is growing daily. Photon could be the first Black woman to officially join an Avengers team. We know she’ll kill it in the Captain Marvel sequel regardless.
Lauren Ridloff as Makkari
Ridloff brought us our second official speedster in the MCU as well as our first deaf character. Eternals was a significant change in pace and style for the universe and although it received mixed results, audiences all fell in love with the characterization of Makkari.
Dominique Thorne as Riri/Iron Heart
Debuting in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Thornebrought Riri Williams to life well before her series, also under the production of Ryan Coogler, debuts on Disney+. The actress auditioned for honorable mention Shuri, but the role went to Letitia Wright instead. Thorne still brings her confidence and bravado to the character, so we look forward to seeing her again.
Idris Elba as Heimdall
Idris portrayed Heimdall across multiple movies and brought the perfect amount of gravitas to the character. Love & Thundersaw the introduction of his son Axl, so we’re not sure if we’ll see Idris on the screen again, but we were fortunate to have him while we did even though the character didn’t always get much screen time.
Zoe Saldaña as Gamora and Neytiri
Zoe, the first actress to appear in 4 $2 billion grossing films, is another star to portray a character over multiple years, both in minor appearances and mainstays. We’re very curious about her portrayal of Gamora in the next Guardians film since her character is from a different universe than the rest of the team.
Aldis Hodge as Hawkman
Hodge is the newcomer to the genre as Black Adamrecently debuted in 2022. We’re not sure if his character will carry over into James Gunn’s DCU, and it most likely won’t, but Hodge was definitely one of the bright spots of the potential revamp The Rock started. Hopefully, he gets another shot with another character.
This list could have gone on for another month, but we’ll wrap at 28! Let us know who you’d like to see next round and hopefully, we’ll continue to run out of space.
Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy has been set for a 2023 release for some time but had not been given a firm release date as of the studio’s latest slate update. Now the studio has revealed the release date for the live-action film along with the first trailer for the project.
Peter Pan & Wendy, directed by David Lowery, is set to debut on April 28th on Disney Plus!
Disney revealed a synopsis for the film via an official release:
“Peter Pan & Wendy” introduces Wendy Darling, a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind, who meets Peter Pan, a boy who refuses to grow up. Alongside her brothers and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Neverland. There, she encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever. The film stars Jude Law (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”), Alexander Molony (“The Reluctant Landlord”), Ever Anderson (“Resident Evil: The Final Chapter”), Yara Shahidi (“Grown-ish”), Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering (“A Discovery of Witches”), Jacobi Jupe, Molly Parker (“House of Cards”), Alan Tudyk (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”), and Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”). “Peter Pan and Wendy” is directed by David Lowery from a screenplay by David Lowery & Toby Halbrooks (“The Green Knight”) based on the novel by J. M. Barrie and the animated film “Peter Pan.” The producer is Jim Whitaker (“Pete’s Dragon”), with Adam Borba (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Thomas M. Hammel (“Thor: Ragnarok”), and Toby Halbrooks serving as executive producers.
The next couple of months are going to be exciting for fans as a near-constant stream of high-profile films will be releasing in theaters. Starting with March 3rd’s Creed III and continuing almost non-stop until May 5th’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, each week will see a new major release. Scream VI, Shazam: Fury of the Gods and John Wick 4 all follow Creed III and they are followed by Universal’s animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie which, according to a new trade report, will now be in theaters a tiny bit sooner than expected.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which stars Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario, Charlie Day as his brother, Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Jack Black as Bowser, was originally scheduled for an April 7th release but has now moved up to April 5th. The move is likely intended to take advantage of long, Easter weekend that often coincides with U.S. schools either taking their Spring Break or providing days off for travel.
This is the second shuffle for the film which was originally intended to hit theaters in December of 2022. Produced by Universal under their Illumination banner, The Super Mario Bros. Movie may spawn a Mario-verse with a potential sequel, an adaptation of Luigi’s Mansion and a Donkey Kong spinoff all rumored to have been discussed at some point.
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