Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros Movie: Jeffrey Dean Morgan Wanted As Luigi
It looks like a new Super Mario Bros. movie is on its way too. They have big plans.
The 35th Anniversary for Nintendo’s Super Mario is right around the corner and their plans to celebrate it will come to fans in a few different ways. First up with be via the Nintendo Switch. It is said that the classic Mario games, which include Super Mario 64, Super Mario Galaxy, and Super Mario 3D, will be hitting the Nintendo Switch system. Not only that, but it is also believed Nintendo will be announcing its long-rumored partnership with Universal Studios, which will bring Nintendo theme parks to the masses. And finally, it looks like a new Super Mario Bros. movie is on its way too.
Casting Luigi In The New Mario Bros. Movie
Casting the new Super Mario Bros. movie is, of course, the most important part of putting together any Mario movie. And we may already know what direction they’re going with Luigi. Word is that the suits at Nintendo are looking at Jeffrey Dean Morgan to play Mario Mario’s taller, green-overall wearing brother Luigi Mario.
Previously Luigi was played by John Leguizamo in the 90s Mario movie. This time apparently they’re going for more of a… er… serial killer vibe with him? Jeffrey Dean Morgan is best known for playing violent psychopaths like Negan on The Walking Dead or complex drunken killers like The Comedian in Watchmen. I guess he does have a nice mustache. That would seem to be his chief qualification here.
Maybe I’m not seeing what Nintendo is seeing and it’s likely that Morgan is only one of the names being pursued for the part at this time.
Casting Princess Peach
The big news from the movie is about who they are looking at to portray the helpless Princess Peach, the one always in need of saving. Universal may be taking a big swing here as they are eyeing Brie Larson for the role.
The movie itself looks to be a mixture of live-action and animation, similar to Pokémon Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog, where some characters were real live actors and others were CG versions.
Universal’s chances at nabbing the highly in-demand Brie Larson are tenuous but definitely not out of the question. If they do get her, it begs the question: what type of character will Princess Peach be? Will she remain the helpless fair lass seen in the video games? That would be hard to imagine given Larson’s penchant for playing strong female characters. Watching Larson sit and wait in the wings while being rescued doesn’t seem to fit in with her highly public movie agenda. But it is Hollywood. Anything can happen if the price is right.
Here’s a fans rendition at how Larson could look as Princess Peach:
Super Mario’s Movie Past
Nintendo took a stab at turning the Mario Bros. into a live-action movie franchise back in 1993 with Bob Hoskins and Mario Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi Mario in Super Mario Bros. Bob Hoskins played a bizarre, corporate lawyer like version of King Koopa and the plot had the brothers falling down a pipe and into a strange, underground world full of intelligent fungus.
The 1993 movie was an epic bomb at the box office earning only $20 million dollars on a budget of $48 million. It was destroyed by critics and even a lot of fans hated it. It’s still routinely referenced as one of the worst movies of all time. That failure was so big that, despite the huge popularity of the Mario franchise as a whole, no one has dared to try again in all the years since.
In theory though, after nearly thirty years, people have forgotten that failure enough to try again.
