Is The Super Mario Bros. Movie Actually A Musical?
We're diving down the warp pipe for Illumination's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and while most of us have been caught up in whether Chris Pratt sounds like Mario enough to play Mario, we've got to admit the first trailer was pretty impressive. If anything, we're at least intrigued to see what happens.
Taking Nintendo's long-running franchise and giving it the Sonic the Hedgehog treatment (the movie), it should be a box-office smash. Especially with an all-star cast that includes Pratt, Jack Black, and Anya Taylor-Joy. We've also got a who's who of supporting voices including Seth Rogen, Charlie Day, and Keegan-Michael Key. Now, a bizarre update means we hope they've been warming up their vocal cords.
Is The Super Mario Bros. Movie A Musical?
While we'll admit we're still a bit confused about the premise of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it seems to involve the usual story about Bowser coming to disrupt the peace and kidnap Princess Peach while Mario tries to come to her rescue across a variety of different worlds. We've already seen the penguin-packed ice realm and one that looks like Big Boo's Haunt.
We imagine the movie will make things more relevant to the 21st Century, and that Taylor-Joy's Peach won't be your typical damsel in distress. One thing we definitely didn't expect though, is the fact The Super Bros. Mario Movie could be a musical. Talking about his role as Toad, Keegan-Michael Key told Variety, "I got to improvise a song in 'Super Mario Bros.,' which was an absolute blast. That was just a stick of fun, that whole thing."
Key apparently isn't the only one practising his scales. As reported by Popverse, Jack Black said the following while promoting the movie: "I did a little bit of rocking. I think you'll be surprised to see that Bowser has a musical side. I'm thinking after the movie comes out I'm taking it to Broadway, there might be a one-man show." Even though we're not sure whether everyone will be singing showtunes, we hope Pratt's singing skills are better than his Mario accent.
Is The Super Mario Bros. Movie Setting Up A Mario Cinematic Universe?
Animated musicals are all the rage, and it's a formula Disney has nailed with the likes of Frozen, Moana, and Encanto. It makes sense that The Super Mario Bros. Movie is taking a leaf out of its rival's book - especially as the mere mention of an animated movie raised a few eyebrows. Even though The Super Mario Bros. Movie isn't out until April 7, 2023, there's already talk about what comes next.
Alongside whispers that Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong is being set up for his own spin-off, there are whispers of a Mario Cinematic Universe. Considering we've seen the Mario name branch out in so many weird and wonderful ways since 1983, there's a lot of scope for where we could go. Personally, we're hoping for a Wario origin movie. All of this depends on how the first movie fares at the box office, but let's be honest, who'd have thought a Mario Mamma Mia could be one of 2023 biggest movies?
