It looks like Nintendo has big plans for its silver screen debut because now reports are coming in that Seth Rogen, who’s playing Donkey Kong in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated movie, will be starring as the character in a movie of his own.
The movie is reportedly being developed right now at Illumination. The plan is to introduce Donkey Kong in the Mario movie and then expand the Donkey Kong universe with the solo film.
Rogen’s voice will appear in the first movie alongside Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, so there’s a good chance we’ll get a fairly good glimpse of what’s to come in the movie. The Donkey Kong universe is fairly vast, almost as big as the Mario universe itself.
Both Mario and Donkey Kong were introduced in 1981 in the Donkey Kong video game. The newest versions of the character will appear on screen on December 21, 2022.
Illumination is known for animated movies like Sing and Despicable Me. The film features an all-star cast, including Chris Pratt as Mario, Anna Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad.
Nintendo legend and Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto announced the movie in a Nintendo Direct presentation in September. A voice actor named Charles Martinet has voiced Mario for years in the video games, and Miyamoto said he’ll appear in the movie in a surprise cameo.
The last time we saw Mario on the big screen was in 1993 in the Super Mario Bros. live-action movie starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as the blue and red-dressed plumber brothers. The movie was widely panned by critics but has since become a cult classic.
Pratt recently shared a story on Instagram about how he would play Mario Bros. when he was a kid, and how one time he stole a quarter from a wishing well to play the game.
“I clearly stole someone’s wish,” he quipped, “just waiting for that role of karma dominoes to crash down on me.”
Super Mario Bros. is set to release on December 21, 2022.
