Chris Pratt and Other Famous Actors Announced for English Voice Cast of New "Super Mario Bros." Movie
Last week, the internet was set ablaze - as if a whole bunch of fire flower power ups suddenly appeared everywhere - when Nintendo announced exciting news about the new Super Mario Bros. animated film!
The news was announced during the September 23, 2021 Nintendo Direct live stream. Gamers were treated to a bunch of nifty game announcements, as they’ve come to expect from such an event, but Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Super Mario Bros., also stopped by to reveal some wild information.
It was previously announced that Miyamoto and Nintendo were collaborating with the Hollywood movie studio Illumination and producer Chris Meledandri (Despicable Me, Sing) to bring us a full-length Super Mario Bros. movie to be shown in theaters. But now Miyamoto has revealed the theatrical release window. The movie is coming out Holiday 2022! North America’s official release date is December 21, 2022. Just in time for Christmas.
But that’s not all that Miyamoto announced. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, from which Miyamoto threw over a surprised baby penguin. We are all the baby penguin.
Voicing Mario, our favorite red-hatted mustachioed plumber, is none other than… Chris Pratt?! Pratt is best know for his role as Peter Quill in the Marvel cinematic universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. He’s also known for playing Owen Grady in the Jurassic World films. And Andy Dwyer from the hilarious Parks and Rec sitcom.
This casting choice has proven surprising and controversial. Over the last few decades, Mario has said little more than short phrases in his video games - phrases like “Let’s-a-go!” and “It’s-a-me, Mario!” These lines have been brought to life by Charles Martinet (who, by the way, will also act in the new film doing surprise cameo voices). Martinet produces a very unique falsetto voice for Mario, much different than how Chris Pratt usually sounds. Which is why much of the internet is doubtful of Chris’ performance.
IGN has posted up a few funny fan reactions to the news. Of course, lots of meme pictures have exploded online poking fun at the voice casting. Like this Tweet reply by @Springtrap211th. And I found this observation made by @iamnottomgreen to be humorous.
But right after the reveal, Pratt went on his official Instagram account, @prattprattpratt, to assure fans he’s working hard to get Mario’s voice right, and that this is a dream come true for him!
Many other big stars have also been announced as playing familiar characters in the movie. Here’s the full list released by Nintendo!
Chris Pratt as Mario
Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach
Charlie Day as Luigi
Jack Black as Bowser
Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek
Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike
Surprise cameos from Charles Martinet
Cover image source: Amazon
