Let's get this out of the way first: Yes, Super Mario Bros., the 1993 film based ever-so-loosely on the colorful video game series of the same name, was terrible. Atrocious. One of the least faithful adaptations ever made about anything. Bob Hoskins said it was the worst job he ever did. Nintendo never made another movie afterward (the Pokemon movies don't count, because The Pokemon Company isn't wholly owned by Nintendo). It bombed both critically and commercially.
But time heals all wounds, and Nintendo might be willing to experiment with motion pictures again.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, Nintendo is "negotiating with a number of movie production companies around the world" to bring their beloved franchises to the big screen.
However, company president Tatsumi Kimishima (who took over the role last year after the unfortunate death of Satoru Iwata) told the paper, "We want to do as much as we can by ourselves."
A spokesperson for Nintendo confirmed this report to The Wall Street Journal, saying that the company will put some of the money they're getting from the sale of the Seattle Mariners baseball team toward the film projects.
This wouldn't be unheard of. Ubisoft, the video game developer/publisher behind Assassin's Creed, has a hand in bringing that property to life with the film adaptation that's hitting theaters later this year.
The Asahi Shimbun story says that the first film project "will likely be a 3-D animated movie" featuring popular Nintendo characters, but that seems to be pure speculation on their part, perhaps influenced by recent video game-inspired movies such as Wreck-It Ralph.
Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nintendo and Netflix were in talks to create a series together based on The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo later denied that report. Sony has also been eyeing the film rights to Nintendo properties recently, according to leaked e-mails about the possibility of a Super Smash Bros. movie.
