Super Mario (2022)

Super Mario is a 2022 computer-animated comedy and action film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller based on the popular Super Mario videogame franchise. The movie follows Mario and Luigi, two plumber brothers that live in the Mushroom Kingdom, on an adventure to rescue Peach, the princess of the kingdom, from Bowser. Josh Gad, Owen Wilson, Rashida Jones, Bill Hader and Jemaine Clement provide their voices for the film's main characters.

The film was produced by Nintendo Studios and Illumination and distributed by Illumination, and became a massive success, grossing $754 million worldwide against a budget of $70 million dollars, becoming the most highest-grossing animated film of 2022 and one of the most highest-grossing films of that year. The film also was a critical success, recieving praise for its animation, acting, story, humor and adapting well to the original series.

Plot
Mario and Luigi are two brothers who work as plumbers for the "Mario Plumbing Co." created by themselves. They live in the Mushroom Kingdom, a grassy kingdom with lots of houses shaped like mushrooms. One day, Mario and Luigi go to the Castle to clean it, but they find out Princess Peach is missing. A scaredy blue Toad tells them that he saw a giant Koopa creature that "looked like Godzilla but in yellow" kidnapped Peach and that they need to save her. Meanwhile in the Koopa Kingdom, Bowser explains his "big mean plan" to Peach, and Peach ends up learning that he just wants respect from his minions.

Mario and Luigi are then attacked by a bunch of Koopa Troopas when they exit the kingdom, then being captured by a mysterious mushroom-like creature. The creature reveals himself as Bob the Goomba, a little minion of Bowser who wants his respect and captured Mario and Luigi because of that. Mario and Luigi easily beat him up and continue their journey to the Koopa Kingdom, meeting and fighting against several foes that are shown in an 8-bit sequence. Meanwhile, Bob the Goomba still plans to end with them but fails. Mario and Luigi go to a secret Koopa village and an old Koopa tells them the Legend of the Starman, that makes a person invincible and is currently in a "terrible location". However, the Koopas in this village attack Mario and Luigi but they counterattack, with Luigi fighting most of them. After Mario tells the old Koopa that he defeated all the enemies, Luigi gets angry and gets into a discussion with Mario, saying that he is "tired of being Player 2" and they part ways.

Meanwhile in Bowser's castle's prisions, Peach, that is trapped in a cell, asks Toad for her bag. After pulling out lots of things, including a racket, a green mushroom and a frying pan, Peach grabs a yellow parasol and escapes from the cell, defeating several Goomba guards. She then goes to Bowser's throne room and tries to fight him but fails.

After both arrive to the Koopa Kingdom, they agree to stop fighting and join again to defeat Bowser and save Peach. They go through a lot of obstacles, including guards, lava bubbles and a very easy puzzle, and then they enter Bowser's throne room. Mario quickly dashes against Bowser but easily gets pushed away, while Luigi is too scared to fight. Mario and Peach then fight against Bowser but a lot of guards appear and capture them. Luigi then defeats the guards and tells them to go to the cannon and escape to the Mushroom Kingdom while he fights Bowser. Mario hugs his brother and Peach then grabs him from the ear, with both (including Toad) launching into the cannon and landing in Mushroom Kingdom.

Luigi then tries to defeat Bowser with some punches and kicks but fails, with Bowser saying that "he will always be Player 2" Luigi's eyes then focus on the Starman, that was in a cage very close to Bowser's throne. He breaks the cage but Bob comes in and grabs the Starman, becoming invincible for a short time but then exploding in Luigi's face. Luigi then grabs the Starman and does a powerful punch, launching Bowser upwards who then falls into the water.

The castle begins to break apart and Luigi quickly goes into the cannon and launches him to Mushroom Kingdom, then getting hugged by Mario and Peach when they find him. Peach then begins a celebration "to the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom". The movie ends with a sequence of the day after that, with Mario and Luigi celebrating the grand re-opening of "Mario and Luigi Plumbing Co." with both of them walking to the castle alongside Peach.

Cast

 * Josh Gad as Mario: A normal plumber that works with his younger brother Luigi. He begins the adventure to save Peach with his brother and helps him overcome his fears. Mario is brave, self-confident and a bit clumsy.
 * Owen Wilson as Luigi: Mario's younger scaredy brother. He also works as a plumber alongside Mario and goes with him on an adventure to save Peach. He gets scared very easily but loves to make new friends.
 * Rashida Jones as Princess Peach: The monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom. Through at the beginning she seems shy, she's very brave and intelligent. She also loves scaring Toad.
 * Bill Hader as Toad: Peach's helper who is perhaps more scaredy than Luigi. He shouts most of the time but always tries to help the princess.
 * Jemaine Clement as Bowser: The Koopa King, Bowser is a scary but lonely person. At the beginning of the movie he explains he only captured Peach because of respect, but becomes more mean-spirited as the movie progresses. He secretly loves singing.
 * Rainn Wilson as Bob: A little Goomba who wants the respect of Bowser and does very dangerous things for that such as capturing Mario and Luigi or try to use the Starman to become invincible.
 * Morgan Freeman as the Old Koopa: A wise Koopa Troopa with a beard that tells Mario and Luigi about the Legend of the Starman. He then appears at the end of the movie in the Mushroom Kingdom and gives Mario the Fire Flower.

Development
Rumors of an animated Super Mario film began in late 2014, with leaked e-mails suggesting that Sony would be producing the film. On November 14, 2017, Universal Pictures and Illumination announced that they would release a computer-animated Mario film. On 2018, Meledandri stated that the movie would be a "priority" for the studio, with a tentative 2022 release date. On 2020, Nintendo stated that the film was "moving along smoothly" for 2022. Animating started in later 2020, and Universal Pictures stated that besides some "little problems" from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the movie was "going well". The movie finished its animating in August 2021 and the first trailer was released on October, with a release date for September 2022, close to the Super Mario Bros. anniversary.

Casting
Several actors were considered for the voice of Mario, including Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis and Ed Helms. However, Lord and Miller decided Gad as the voice of Mario. The role of Luigi was offered to Adam Sandler, who was filming Grown Ups 3 at that time, but he declined it due to his busy schedule. Wilson was revealed to be the voice of Luigi in the first trailer. Illumination had worked with Jones some years ago in The Grinch, and she was revealed to be considered as the voice of Peach in a leaked list in 2021. Other names also included Amy Poehler, Taylor Swift and Anne Hathaway. Jones was cast as Peach in 2021, and was revealed alongside Hader and Wilson in the first trailer. Although Lord and Miller wanted Idris Elba as Bowser, Clement was cast as Bowser after Miller saw his performances in Rio and Moana.

Post-production
The film's total cost was $130 million, including advertising, production and prints.

Franchise
After the commercial and critical success of the movie, Lord and Miller announced that the movie would become a franchise, with a sequel (tentatively named Super Mario Bros) on the works, and a television series starring Jones as Princess Peach airing in Cartoon Network with a tentative 2023 release. In an interview, Chris Columbus showed his interest in directing a Luigi's Mansion movie.