During the Nintendo Direct, Shigeru Miyamoto made a surprise appearance to discuss the full-length Mario movie in the works from Illumination studios. The release date in North America is December 21, 2022 and release dates for Japan and other regions will be announced at a later date.
While Miyamoto didn’t reveal what Mario will look like in the upcoming film, he did announce the star-studded cast that will be voicing the iconic Mario characters. Here’s the list of actors that will bring the Mario characters to life:
Chris Pratt will be voicing Mario
Anya Taylor-Joy will voice Princess Peach
Charlie Day will voice Luigi
Jack Black will be playing Bowser
Keegan-Michael Key will voice Toad
Seth Rogen will voice Donkey Kong
Fred Armisen will voice Cranky Kong
Kevin Michael Richardson will voice Kamek
Sebastian Maniscalco will voice Spike
Miyamoto teased that Charles Martinet, who has long provided the voice of Mario in Nintendo’s games (as well as characters like Luigi and Wario) will have a surprise cameo in the upcoming movie.
The project has been known to be in development for years, but these are the first concrete details about the film that have been revealed.
The decision to have Illumination helm the upcoming Mario movie makes sense given it is the same studio behind movies Despicable Me, The Lorax, and The Secret Life of Pets. While part of me hopes the upcoming Mario movie will be a cult classic like 1993’s Super Mario Bros., I think it’s about time the plumber gets his chance at being a mainstream movie success. Hopefully, the upcoming Mario movie will find the same success that Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog garnered.
