The official translation for Nintendo's Q&A session during its latest financial briefing is now available online, holding some interesting, if not altogether surprising, tidbits of information regarding the company's plans for the next fiscal year.
Shigeru Miyamoto was of course in attendance, alongside Shuntaro Furukawa, Shinya Takahashi, Satoru Shibata, Ko Shiota, and Hajime Murakami, with the former offering up his thoughts on the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie and, more specifically, why he thinks audiences will respond well to it:
"For The Super Mario Bros. Movie, I have been working together with Mr. Chris Meledandri, the founder and CEO of Illumination, from the start, through seven years of planning and six years of production. During that time, we have thought a lot about the appeal of transforming games into films and about what audiences are looking for.
"With novels and comics, people have already enjoyed their stories, so I think movie adaptations guarantee a certain amount of enjoyment. But with video games, it is the gaming experience that makes them compelling, so a movie that adheres to the story of a game will not necessarily be interesting. Moreover, people who have played the game will expect a movie experience that is faithful to their memories of the game, while those who have never played the game will expect a movie that is enjoyable as an independent piece of entertainment.
"We spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out how to overcome these two challenges. While it is a bit presumptuous to say so myself, I think we managed to get it right, so I hope you will enjoy the movie."
While it's hardly surprising that one of the creative talents behind the movie thinks it's going to wind up being good, Miyamoto's reasoning is actually pretty sound. Video game adaptations in the past have frequently been guilty of simply retelling narratives that gamers are already familiar with, so it seems that the Super Mario Bros. Movie will be heading in a decidedly different direction.
Here's hoping it all works out!
Do you agree with Miyamoto's assessment on video game adaptations? Are you looking forward to watching the new Super Mario Bros. Movie? Let us know!
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 46
Opening night for me. Miyamoto you are the man!
Phew, one of the primary producers of the movie said it would be good! I was worried he would publicly badmouth it! /s
All jokes aside I’m very curious to see how the movie turns out
I bet the japenese Mario is great.
Well, we will see on 7 April 2023.
The trailer looked promising so ☺️
"But with video games, it is the gaming experience that makes them compelling, so a movie that adheres to the story of a game will not necessarily be interesting. Moreover, people who have played the game will expect a movie experience that is faithful to their memories of the game, while those who have never played the game will expect a movie that is enjoyable as an independent piece of entertainment."
Well, from what I've seen about reviews/criticism of movies based on video games, that's the phrase that many agree on.
Gee, I wonder why he would say that?
I'm actually decently excited for the Mario Movie, though Pratt's current performance does leave a lot to be desired. I guess we'll just have to see how it pans out come April, huh?
No joke, I plan on buying a Mario costume just to dress up when I see the movie in theaters! It's not going to be easy, because it's already hot in April where I live, and we're talking a long sleeve shirt and overalls...
While what we seen of Pratts performance is the only downside so far I have with the movie so far. I need to see another trailer where you see his performance more.
I've been living off the "do you yield?" scene ever since the trailer came out. Jack Black is Bowser!!
Can’t wait.
Waaaaahooooooo
Cannot wait for the movie. It looks great so far.
I'm not getting a single ticket for this movie.
I'm getting eighty of them.
Hope it won't be pants.
I used that correctly, right?
I am really looking forward to "a certain amount of enjoyment."
Hopefully the rest of the movie will help me get over the whole Mario Pratt thing. Or maybe Jack Black will save the whole thing, lol
@Bizaster he could’ve been silent about it though if he was not confident. Saying nothing is saying something
Hope so. I like that they're putting video game references in the movie. I'm not planning to watch it then, but from the teaser it didn't look bad to me. It's not enough to form a full opinion, but could be a good movie for the target audiences.
I liked some stuff in the teaser myself.
Unlike the popular opinion, I don't think Chris Pratt's VA is bad. Although I'd like to listen to more of it first. But I do agree Mario could sound much better. But I wouldn't say he's bad at VA.
I just don't understand why they have to change all the VA's. Maybe the arguments as to why they had to are correct then. Idk.
Anyway, I'm more interested in next year's Mario game. I hope it's a new 3D Mario game and it's good.
I believe you Miyamoto-san. The trailer was really good and I will watch the movie with my family.
@Bizaster While yeah it's producer saying his movie is good. I recall quite early on he said they'd cancel it if he didn't think it was good enough, and Miyamoto's reputation for "upending the teatable" and stuff makes me believe it.
I reckon Pikmin 4 will be pretty good too =)
That’s worrying….
I'm optimistic. Miyamoto is usually sincere when he talks about his prized IP, and I think they learned their lesson from the days of Virtual Boy and the 1993 Mario flick. If it's good, I hope it starts a trend of video game adaptions that are actually worth watching.
@IronMan30 +1 for a reasonable attempt at the use of pants as an adjective. Oh, and it's not referring to trousers.
I believe it will be a great movie, judging by the looks of the trailer.
@IronMan30 Checks out fine 'Hope it isn't pants.' is also fine.
This is going to make Switches popular again after the recent checks internet notes decline in sales and the impending doom to befall Nintendo.
Imagine that! And here I was thinking he would bash the film too!
@Skunkfish @GrailUK thank you, both.
I’m looking forward to the movie, but I’m worried about the voice of princess peach in the movie, she better have a good voice for princess peach or I will not go see the movie, other than that I’m excited to hear Chris Pratt voicing Mario and especially Jack Black voicing Bowser , totally awesome, let’s hope this Super Mario Movie will be better than last one, the first one stunk on ice
Anyone whining about 'Pratt's performance' made up their mind to hate his version before they heard it. I am not saying he's great. There have been 2 lines released. We don't know anything yet.
Well, even If Miyamoto San is really being sincere, It's not guaranteed that the movie will be good in the eyes of the public. He's been known for some bad choices lately, in the games department, at least. But personally, I don't think that's the case.
I trust that it is. We haven't heard enough of Chris Pratt but I would almost bet that he'll be like the Mario from the old TV cartoons, which would be fine with me. The movie itself looks great and I'm excited that it's an origin story in particular.
Eh, what does it matter. Likely it will get a middling or average score from critics. Fans will love it regardless. People will go on another rant how critics are not to be trusted while ironically recommending their favorite critic.
All Nintendo has to do is sit back and watch their bank account numbers rise.
The ONLY thing that concerns me about this movie is the amount of singing🎶 there's going to be...
@Bobb slow chuckle “I do not.” So freaking good, Jack Black is gonna kill it.
Big Luigi guy so I’m pumped to see more Charlie Day footage, the trailer end has me hoping he gets to go full crazy at some point xD
I trust this guy, he doesn’t just do things at random, I also have no not to trust him, I mean he gave Mario to the Ubisoft team and look now at that turned out.
Still pretty skeptical since it's still being made by illumination and Miyamoto and I have different idea on "good".
Oh look. Even Miyamoto himself, who probably knows much about the movie, says he THINKS they managed to get it right.
Why say that? Because the movie's not out yet so he doesn't yet know what people will think of it after seeing it. Likewise, maybe the assumptive out there should reserve their hate until they actually see the movie.
If kids enjoy it, it's done everything it needs to do.
@KayFiOS I'd go as Bowser if I could
Some people were complaining about Chris Pratt doing the voice for Mario in the movie, instead of Charles Martinet.
I am in my 40s though and grew up thinking of Lou Albano as the voice of Mario (from ‘The Super Mario Bros. Super Show’). It was the first time that I ever heard Mario speak.
I need to get a new TV as the trailer I saw looked awful! Guess I’m in the minority, enjoy the film guys
I'm looking forward to it. I don't have lofty expectations. But my son and I will laugh a lot, no doubt. There'll be lots of inside jokes and Easter eggs. Tons of cameos, too. I predict the story will be weak, but it won't matter. Visually it's great (probably). I hope it's not fully a musical. Then they just need to release: Super Mario Bros: The Movie: The Game. We'll see, lol.
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