MCU Style Super Smash Bros. Movie Pitched by Illumination
Illumination, the animation studio under Universal Studios, has reportedly pitched Nintendo an Avengers-style Super Smash Bros. film following the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This article explores the potential for this project and its implications for Nintendo's popular IPs.
Success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Following the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Illumination is reportedly pitching Nintendo an Avengers-style Super Smash Bros. film. Illumination, an animation studio under the Universal Studios umbrella, is the same team behind Mario's super-successful 2023 feature film.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Stokes Return Of Abandoned Nintendo Franchise
Despite mixed reviews, The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a massive success at the box office, where it became the highest-grossing video game movie of all time. It's not just successful by video game adaptation standards, either; The Super Mario Bros. Movie is simply one of the highest-grossing animated films ever made and Illumination's highest-grossing project to date.
Illumination's Pitch and Potential Partnerships
After The Super Mario Bros. Movie joined the billion-dollar club, it was only a matter of time before Nintendo followed up with another big-screen debut. The video game company went in a bit of a different direction, however, as Nintendo announced it was teaming up with Sony for a live-action Legend of Zelda movie.
Industry insider Daniel Richtman is reporting that Illumination has pitched an Avengers-style Super Smash Bros. movie. Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this project would feature several spin-off films from various other Nintendo personalities.
Given the success of Nintendo and Illumination's partnership so far, it isn't hard to imagine that the two could team up for more animation projects in the future.
Implications and Future Prospects
At the moment, it is only being reported that Illumination has pitched the idea to Nintendo. So even if this is true, there is no word about whether Nintendo plans to greenlight these plans.
Still, a Super Smash Bros. feature is a Mario Movie spin-off that makes a lot of sense. Again, Nintendo has an impressive library of IPs that are ripe for cinematic adventures. Kirby, Zelda, Metroid, and Fox are all beloved franchises with enough lore to support their own animated films.
As Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is one of the Nintendo Switch's best-selling games, it certainly makes sense from a popularity standpoint. The hypothetical film could be a great place to showcase not only Nintendo's popular IP but perhaps some characters from outside the Big N.
