Sept. 23 (UPI) — Universal Pictures announced Thursday that Chris Pratt will lead the voice cast of an animated Super Mario Bros. movie from Illumination. Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan Michael-Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen and more also star.
Pratt will voice Mario, the plumber who must rescue Princess Peach (Taylor-Joy) from the Koopa Kingdom in the Nintendo video games. Day voices Mario’s brother, Luigi.
Black will voice Bowser, the big boss of the original video game. Key voices Toad, a mushroom person who is one of Mario’s allies.
Mario originated as the protagonist of the video game Donkey Kong. Mario returned as the villain of Donkey Kong, Jr.
Mario and Luigi got their own game, Mario Bros. in which they exterminated turtles and crabs from pipes. Super Mario Brothers was a side scrolling platform game that launched its own video game franchise that continued with each more advanced Nintendo console.
Donkey Kong will appear in the movie, too, with the voice of Rogen. Armisen plays Cranky Kong, Kong’s grandfather who appears in later game sequels.
A live-action Super Mario Bros. movie was released in 1993. Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo played Mario and Luigi, with Dennis Hopper as the villain.
The film was a box office failure and criticized by fans of the game for being mostly unfaithful. Illumination produces the animated Despicable Me, Minions, Sing and Secret Life of Pets franchises.
Universal will release Super Mario Bros. in the holiday season of 2022.