The final trailer for the Super Mario Bros. Movie is here – and the hype is rising. The animated movie, which features Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario, will be the first cinematic adaptation of the acclaimed video game series since 1993’s live-action Super Mario Bros. movie, which starred Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi, respectively. The new version, from Illumination Studios, sees Pratt’s portly plumber head to the Mushroom Kingdom as Jack Black’s Bowser aims to turn up the heat on its citizens. Plus, Anya Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach is no damsel in distress – she joins Mario in a quest to save Charlie Day’s Luigi from Bowser’s clutches.
There’s a fair amount we already know about the Super Mario Bros. Movie – a release date has been confirmed, plus we know the voice cast, who’s directing, and we have multiple trailers, offering clues as to the movie’s plot. Scroll on down for everything we know so far about the new Mario movie.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie release date
The Super Mario Bros. Movie release date is different depending on where you are in the world. The animation reaches UK cinemas on March 31, 2023, followed by a North American release on April 7. The Mario movie then heads to theaters in Japan on April 28. As this is a Universal release, The Super Mario Bros. Movie will likely be available on the Peacock streaming service some time after that, potentially in May.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer
The first Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer was released during New York City Comic-Con, which was also part of a Nintendo Direct presentation. The trailer, which you can see above, offers a first taste of Chris Pratt’s Mario, Jack Black’s Bowser, and Khary Payton’s Penguin King. Plus, there’s a brief look at Luigi, who will be voiced by Charlie Day.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the trailer was the penguins, who are deep cuts from the Mario 64 movie. How central their role will be remains to be seen, though they’ve given up a Power Star to Bowser, so expect the dastardly villain to be on the search for more of them.
PRESS START. The final #SuperMarioMovie trailer is here! Tickets on sale now: https://t.co/8P2JiqQgNO❤️ this tweet to Power-Up with exclusive updates from The Super Mario Bros. Movie! pic.twitter.com/r8pAexzfMzMarch 9, 2023
The third trailer, above, sees Luigi and King Penguin about to meet their doom, with Bowser vowing to destroy the entire kingdom. Mario, Toad, and Princess Peach band together and set out to save them from Bowser’s clutches.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie voice cast
The Super Mario Bros. Movie voice cast is stacked. As announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation in 2021, Chris Pratt will voice the titular plumber. The actor has previous when it comes to voice acting, having been behind the lead in The LEGO Movie, which, lest we forget, was surprisingly good, though that hasn’t stopped people from being slightly worried about his Italian accent.
Joining Pratt on the adventure will be Charlie Day as Luigi. Day has had various minor parts in blockbusters such as Pacific Rim Uprising, and even appeared alongside Pratt in The LEGO Movie as the character Benny, but is best known as one of the leads in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
They will be helping Princess Peach, who is voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, best known for leading The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix and playing a pivotal role in the epic The Northman. Her Mushroom Kingdom will be facing the wrath of Bowser, with Jack Black, of Tenacious D and Jumanji fame, as Mario’s nemesis.
As seen in the trailer, Toad will play a prominent part in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with Keegan-Michael Key – one half of Key & Peele – voicing the character. Interestingly, he was also in The LEGO Movie as Frank the Foreman.
Another Nintendo icon, Donkey Kong, will also be in the movie, with everyone’s favorite stoner Seth Rogen as the ape’s voice. Comedian Fred Armisen joins him as Cranky Kong (and Armisen was in The LEGO Ninjago Movie). Rounding out the cast are Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, Khary Payton as the Penguin King, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike. Charles Martinet, the sole voice of Mario in the video game franchise, has an undisclosed cameo.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie director
The Super Mario Bros. Movie directors are Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, best known for creating the acclaimed series Teen Titans Go!, with a screenplay from Matthew Fogel, who previous penned Minions: The Rise of Gru and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. The score has been composed by Brian Tyler (Avengers: Age of Ultron, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers) in collaboration with longtime Nintendo music-maker Koji Kondo, who is best known for his work on the Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series. Illumination Studios Paris, who worked in the Despicable Me franchise, animated the movie.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie plot
While an official synopsis for The Super Mario Bros. Movie has yet to be released, we can glean some of what the movie is about from the teaser trailers from Universal and Nintendo.
Bowser, King of the Koopas, invades the kingdom of the Penguins and destroys their castle. “I’ve finally found it,” he says, holding the coveted Super Star. “Now who’s going to stop me?” The trailer cuts to Mario, and given the canon of the Mario games, the two will more than likely face off in the film. Mario is seen entering the Mushroom Kingdom through a portal and seemingly meeting Toad for the first time. It’s a mystery how they got there. Luigi, meanwhile, is briefly seen running from Dry Bones at the very end of the first trailer.
The second trailer clues us in a little more to goings-on in Mushroom Kingdom. It appears to show Mario going about his life as a plumber in the ‘human’ world. Bowser, inevitably, is keen on tracking down one of the few remaining roadblocks to his plans for world domination. Mario, though, has an ally in Princess Peach and her army of toads. The new trailer also shows how Mario will prepare for the upcoming battle with Bowser’s minions: training courses that resemble levels from classic 2D Mario adventures.
The movie also has some “musical aspects,” according to Jack Black. “Bowser has a musical side,” he told the audience at New York City Comic-Con, where GamesRadar+ was in attendance, before joking that he was considering taking The Super Mario Bros. Movie to Broadway. “There’s musical aspects,” he said, but wouldn’t mention anything else, citing a “spoiler alert.”
That’s everything we know about The Super Mario Bros. Movie. For more, check out our list of every upcoming video game movie heading to cinemas soon.