First and foremost, given the commercial success of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” it’s unlikely that this collaboration is a one-off. Setting aside the somewhat mixed critical reaction to the film (Read our review here), the box office sales speak for themselves, and the general audience is gobbling it up. So at least, we’ll have a sequel or two. But with Nintendo’s huge character library that will also allow for animation, one has to imagine that bigger ideas are swirling around and between the heads of the food chain at these three companies.
And why not? If a “Mario” movie can be a hit, why not make a “Kirby” movie next? Maybe even do a spin-off “Luigi’s Mansion”. Likewise, why can’t a “Star Fox” movie do so well? I’ll be the first to admit that the “Metroid” movie produced by Illumination, the same studio that produced “Minions”, is a tough movie to sell. But “The Legend of Zelda”? I can see that. And the Donkey Kong spin-off will be extremely sellable with his starring role in the Mario movie. All pieces are on the board or can be moved onto the board easily.
For what could it all lead to? What can be said to be “The Avengers” of this Nintendo cinematic universe? A “Super Smash Bros.” the movie is right there, bringing together all the different characters under one roof to beat it in tournament style. The matter won’t even be forced, as one of Nintendo’s most popular video game series will serve as the natural conclusion to all of this. The point is, for Nintendo, this won’t attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole. Their stable titles are made to handle the cinematic universe.
