During a Nintendo Direct event the previous fall, the company informed a release date for the animated Super Mario Bros. movie that it’s causing with Minions animation studio Illumination.
However, the company has announced that the film will not hit cinemas on December 21st as intended and instead will be dismissed in the spring of 2023.
A tweet credited to Mario innovator Shigeru Miyamoto says that after conferring with co-producer Chris Meledandri, the latest release dates for the Super Mario Bros. movie are April 28th in Japan and April 7th in North America.
Unfortunately, the tweet did not describe how Chris Pratt will portray Mario, a title, or respond to any of the other questions we’ve had since this project was announced in 2018.
Other cast members confirmed for the movie include Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Seth Rogan as Donkey Kong, Keegan-Michael as Key Toad, and Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. However, it’s unclear exactly how longtime Mario voice actor Chris Martinet will also be a part of the movie.
Miyamoto promised the movie would be “well worth the wait,” and we only bear to look at the victory of the first Sonic the Hedgehog flick to see how true that can be. The first movie required a three-month delay so animators could select Sonic after viewers flinched at the first trailer, and when it arrived, the film was a hit.
There’s no indication of similar problems with the Mario movie; At the same time, we still don’t understand much about it; Deadline declares that the delay is about “optimizing the family audience,” with a release on Easter weekend the following year.
It could potentially sync up with the onset of the first US Super Nintendo World theme playground, and Nintendo’s sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is just a bonus.