President of Nintendo Tatsumi Kimishima has revealed a slew of details surrounding the Super Mario Bros movie that is currently in the works, the most of important of which is its potential release date. Nintendo hopes to have the movie out by 2020, but it does require some prerequisites in order for that target year to be met.
In a recent interview with Japanese daily newspaper Kyoto Shimbun (and translated by JapaneseNintendo), Nintendo President Kimishima gave details regarding the movie. In order for the Super Mario Bros. movie to release by 2020, Nintendo has to secure a partnership with a studio to produce it.
This is rather interesting news, as the Super Mario Bros. animated movie hasn’t even been officially announced yet. The movie has been heavily rumored for the last few months, but no concrete reveal has been made by Nintendo. This makes Kimishima’s response rather intriguing as it basically confirms that it is in fact real.
It is also interesting that Nintendo has yet to make an agreement with its potential partner for the Mario movie, which has also been rumored to be Illumination Entertainment. Illumination is best known for the Despicable Me franchise and its spin-off movie Minions. Last year was a huge year for the American-based animation studio, as it released the highly successful Despicable Me 3.
Illumination’s success makes it a reasonable partner for Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. movie. Once their agreement is completed, the movie is set to be officially announced with a release by 2020. With a heavily rumored January Nintendo Direct set to come this week, that would be a great time to officially announce the movie, though the timing makes it unlikely.
For more on that rumored January 11th Nintendo Direct, check out our articles on how Bayonetta 3 will be coming this year and how the Direct will be like an E3 showcase.