Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto took to Twitter today to announce that Nintendo’s feature-length animated Super Mario Bros. movie will no longer be releasing this year. Fans of the iconic plumber can now expect his film to debut in theaters globally in 2023; North Americans should be able to check it out beginning on April 7, while Japan will get it a couple of weeks later on April 28. The Super Mario Bros. movie is a collaboration between Nintendo and Illumination Entertainment, the studio behind the Minions and Despicable Me films.
“After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023–April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America,” Miyamoto wrote. “My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait.”
This is Miyamoto. After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023–April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America. My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait.
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 26, 2022
‘Super Mario Bros’: Illumination Nintendo Movie Heads To Easter Weekend 2023 (Deadline)
Universal and Illumination’s Nintendo movie Super Mario Bros about the famed videogame plumbers, kart drivers and squashers of turtles is zipping from its planned December 21 release date to April 7, which is Easter weekend 2023.
I hear the move simply stems from optimizing the family audience for that film on that holiday. Meanwhile, Universal will backfill Dec. 21 with DreamWorks Animation’s long-gestating anticipated sequel, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; that pic moves from its Sept. 23 release date.
Nintendo and Illumination announced that they had partnered for a movie based on the Super Mario Bros. franchise in January 2018, but it wasn’t until last year that fans would learn of who would be voicing the series’ iconic characters. The star-studded cast includes Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), and Jack Black (Bowser). Charles Martinet, who has provided the voice for Mario and Luigi in the Super Mario games since 1992, will also have a role.