With less than half a year until Nintendo and Illumination bring the Super Mario Bros. Movie to theaters, composer Brian Tyler is hard at work crafting the sounds of the Mushroom Kingdom. The Emmy-nominated composer took to Instagram to give fans a look inside the recording studio, including a peak at some of his sheet music for the project.
Currently working at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studio, the images show Tyler in the middle of conducting the orchestra and choir. For Super Mario’s first foray onto the big screen since the disastrous 1993 film, this animated outing seems to be going big with its score to capture the grand scale of the plumber’s latest adventure. The composer, thus far, seems pretty happy with the product, writing in the post, “An amazing day recording The Super Mario Bros. Movie orchestra and choir! So excited for everyone to see this unbelievably amazing!”
Tyler has been a popular choice for film scores for some time now, most recently composing music for Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, 2022’s Scream, F9: The Fast Saga, and a pair of Taylor Sheridan TV shows in Yellowstone and 1883. Mario will provide a unique challenge for him though. The music from the classic game franchise is iconic. Nearly everybody knows the tune to the plumber’s theme song, but that hardly scratches the surface of the whimsical, light, and atmospheric background music that captures the feel of every level within the games. He’ll have a ringer with him to help adapt the music to the big screen as longtime Mario composer Koji Kondo, who’s responsible for some of the most iconic tunes from the franchise including Mario’s theme, is also on board the project.
Music seems to be a surprisingly important element to the Super Mario Bros. Movie. Besides merely getting the feel of the franchise right, there’s been speculation due to Jack Black‘s comments at New York Comic Con that we could see Bowser breaking into song. He’s not the only one warming up his pipes as Keegan-Michael Key also discussed improvising a song for the film. Interestingly, the rest of the cast is full of talented actors with some singing chops if they want to go the musical route, including Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Fred Armisen, Charlie Day, Kevin Michael Richardson, Sebastian Maniscalco, and even Seth Rogen to an extent.
Despite the release of a trailer, the plot is still being kept under wraps though it’ll likely follow a similar plot to the games where Mario sets out to find Princess Peach and defeat Bowser. Teen Titans GO! creators, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jenelic, are directing with Minions: The Rise of Gru writer Matthew Fogel penning the story.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie jumps into theaters on April 7, 2023. Take a look at Tyler making the anticipared Mario tunes below.
