Last year, it was revealed that Nintendo was reconsidering their stance on movie adaptations of their video game characters, an attitude that has been firm ever since 1993’s disastrous Super Mario Bros. movie. Speaking with Asahi News (via Kotaku), Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima revealed the company is hoping to self-finance their own animated movies based on their characters, following the sale of their stake in the Seattle Mariners baseball team.
“Now, we’re talking to various partners. In the not too distant future, I’d like to get some sort of form ironed out….But this time, rather than licensing, our current thinking is that we’d like to do as much as we can ourselves.”
Kimishima went on to confirm that the films would not be live action but instead animated movies.
“We’ve done that before, so probably not a live-action one… Because we have IPs, we’re thinking we could also do something like (Disney/Pixar). It is something to keep in mind as we make all this concrete.”
He went on to confirm that the plans for their own films may not fully form by the end of the year but that he’s eager to see it happen in the near future. In addition, Kimishima revealed that Mario/Zelda/Star Fox/Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto would be involved in the film branch but wouldn’t confirm what their first feature would be:
“I want to use an IP that is popular with everyone. But, I’m not saying it’s going to be Super Mario, I’m only saying we’ll put out something that everyone knows very well.”
Some Nintendo characters have appeared on the big screen in recent days, with Bowser making a cameo in Wreck-It Ralph, plus Donkey Kong, Mario, and the Duck Hunt dog appearing in last year’s Pixels, but none have starred in their own feature just yet.
