Nintendo’s animated Super Mario Bros. movie is delayed until next spring, still stars Chris Pratt

Image: Nintendo

During a Nintendo Direct event last fall, the company revealed a release date for the animated Super Mario Bros. movie. The movie will not hit theaters on December 21st as planned and will instead be released in the spring of 2023 according to the company.

The Super Mario Bros. film will be released in Japan and North America on April 28 and April 7 respectively. We have not been given an explanation of how Chris Pratt will portray Mario, a title, or answer any of the other questions we have had since the project was announced.

This is Miyamoto. After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros. film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023–April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America. My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait.

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 26, 2022

Other cast members who have been confirmed for the movie include Jack Black as Bowser, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Donkey Kong, and Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong. Chris Martinet will be a part of the movie, although it is not clear how.

Miyamoto promised the movie will be worth the wait, and we only have to look at the success of the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie to see how true that is. When the movie came out, it was a hit because the first movie needed a three-month delay to fix Sonic. There is no indication of the same issues with the Mario movie, but it is being delayed because ofoptimizing the family audience. It could potentially sync up with the opening of the first US Super Nintendo World theme park and the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.