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 $654 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.

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.

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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.

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 2020, 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 work with Jones earlier 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.