The upcoming Super Mario Bros. film has seen a setback, with the Chris Pratt-led video game adaptation officially delayed until next year.
In a tweet, producer and long-time Mario developer Shigeru Miyamoto announced that Super Mario Bros. will no longer premiere in Dec. 2022, but rather a few months later in Spring 2023.
“After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release”.
Miyamoto promised fans in the tweet that the movie will be “well worth the wait”, but did not refer to a catalyst for the four month delay in release.
The cast includes several A-list Hollywood actors, with Chris Pratt as the eponymous hero. Pratt’s casting has been divisive, but he is joined by the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, and Charlie Day as his brother Luigi. Pratt and Day have previously worked together on The LEGO Movie, with Pratt as hero Emmet and Day as sidekick Benny.
Pratt has bagged several large voice-acting gigs recently, with him also confirmed to voice Monday-hating cat Garfield in an upcoming project.
In a boon to the film, Jack Black has been cast as the villain Bowser which has gone down well with fans. Keegan-Michael Key has also been cast as Toad. Original Mario series voice actor Charles Martinet is confirmed to have several cameos in the film.
The untitled Mario film is now scheduled to release April 7, with animation heavyweights Aaron Horvath (Teen Titans Go!) and Michael Jeleni (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) directing.