- Chris Pratt will voice famous plumber Mario in the new ‘Super Mario Bros.’ movie, Nintendo announced.
- North America’s animated Super Mario Bros. will be in theaters December 21, 2022.
- The voice castings received mostly negative reactions. There was also a shortage of Danny DeVito.
- For more stories, visit Insider’s homepage.
Nintendo announced the actors who will voice characters in its upcoming “Super Mario Bros.” animated film during a Nintendo Direct event on Thursday. Chris Pratt will play the role of Mario, a plumber from the fantasy world.
In North America, the new film will be released in theaters on December 21st 2022.
—Wario64 (@Wario64) September 23, 2021
The voice cast is as follows:
- Chris Pratt as Mario
- “Queen’s Gambit” star Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach
- Charlie Day as Luigi
- Jack Black as Bowser
- Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
- Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
- Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek
- Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike
—Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 23, 2021
“We are collaborating with Chris and his experienced team to not just create a character licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings ‘Super Mario Bros.’ to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game,” Nintendo CEO Shigeru Miyamoto said at the Nintendo direct event.
Chris Pratt and Nintendo immediately trended on Twitter after the Thursday afternoon announcement, with many letting out a collective “Mamma mia,” at some of the casting choices.
—Ash Parrish (@adashtra) September 23, 2021
Many made tongue-in-cheek jokes about the lack of Italian-American representation in the voice cast, namely in Mario’s role.
—Vincent Martella (@VinMan17) September 23, 2021
—Ghoul Lord (@pppondi) September 23, 2021
Others suggested it was an injustice that Mario’s role didn’t go to Danny DeVito, who is Charlie Day’s (cast as Luigi) co-star in “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”
—Lucina(Hiatus)🦋🇲🇽🇺🇸🏳️🌈 (@LucinaDraws) September 23, 2021
—IGN (@IGN) September 23, 2021
Chris Pratt later posted a video on his Instagram saying that the announcement was “a dream come true,” adding that he played Super Mario at an arcade near his house as a child.
“As it is right now, it’s-a me, Mario,” Pratt said.