While the legendary video game characters in Super Mario Bros. already graced the screen in 1993, things didn't quite work out in the end, and have left fans wanting to see Mario in full cinematic form empty handed. Still, the Nintendo-based world is ripe for a fun little animated movie, and apparently Sony feels the same way, because they're working on securing the rights to make a new animated movie off the popular game series.
Buzzfeed first got word out on the newly prospected film, surfaced from the thousand of leaked emails hitting the web these past couple weeks. Avi Arad, the veteran producer behind the Spider-Man movies and other big-budget projects, leads the charge to bring the game back to the big screen.
In the report, Arad emailed Sony studio head Amy Pascal this October, saying "I am the proud father of mario the animated film.” This was followed of him with Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's CEO, and Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario Bros., which included the message, "Happy ceo, lets get together, it’s the mother load." Pascal would then go on to forward this email to Tom Rothman, head of TriStar, Sony Pictures subsidiary company, to say "Avi closed Mario brothers. Animated."
In an update to the story, Buzzfeed notes Arad denied the deal being closed. But if the deal does work out, it will likely be some time before the movie hits the screen. In addition to the fact that it needs to be written, they still have to hire a filmmaker, and this is in addition to the multi-year process animated films go through to reach the finish line. While no filmmaker has been attached to the film, Pascal does, in one email, suggest Genndy Tartakovsky, the director behind Hotel Transylvania, helm the movie, saying the project is "soooo perfect for him." The publication does note, however, that he's not involved with the movie at the moment. Tartakovsky currently has his hands filled already making Hotel Transylvania and a Popeye movie.
Should this come forward, it looks like this will start a new film franchise for Sony, with a later email thinking there will be three to four films to be made here, much like Warner Bros is doing with Lego. None of the emails, oddly, make note of how Sony Computer Entertainment is a direct competitor to Nintendo.
Meanwhile, this is just one of the many, many leaked e-mails telling us the backstage details going on behind Sony. These also include considering legal action against Bill Murray over Ghostbusters 3, calling Kevin Hart "a whore" and Angelina Jolie "a minimally talented spoiled brat", not liking Adam Sandler's newest movies and more.
Additionally, this is just one video game venture exploring the cinema side of their efforts, as Sega is now branching into movies and TV as well.
Image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com