The Super Mario Bros. Movie star Chris Pratt revealed the creative team behind the highly-anticipated video game adaptation is already discussing sequels and spinoffs. As Pratt told CBR, there have even been talks about turning the Luigi’s Mansion franchise into a movie.
While Nintendo has remained one of the biggest video game developers in the world for decades, the company has failed to explore its biggest IPs in other media. For instance, the last time Mario came to theaters was in 1993, a live-action project that took many liberties with the franchise and scared Nintendo away from film adaptations for almost thirty years. Now, with the help of the beloved animation studio Illumination, The Super Mario Bros. Movie promises to give fans a faithful adaptation of the Super Mario games.
Expectations are high, so it’s not hard to imagine Nintendo and Illumination are already discussing the future of the cinematic franchise. As Pratt puts it:
“Listen, there’s like, at the end of the film, there’s a post-credit sequence that gives you a taste of what the sequel could be about. And that gets me very, very excited. But there’s been talk of Luigi’s Mansion. That was a Gamecube game. I think that would be great.”
We all expected The Super Mario Bros. Movie to have a post-credit scene. And since official toys for the movie tease characters from Mario’s galactic adventures, maybe a sequel could take the Mushroom Kingdom heroes to space. However, it’s also exhilarating to learn Illumination and Nintendo are discussing exploring Luigi’s Mansion story on the big screen, as the franchise established Luigi’s anxious personality.
What’s Luigi’s Mansion About?
Released in 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube, Luigi’s Mansion spoofs Ghostbusters to transform Luigi into a paranormal explorer who fights ghosts with a vacuum cleaner. The game received two sequels, the latest coming to the Nintendo Switch in 2019, and every game was well-received by critics and fans alike. Nintendo has also released all sorts of merchandising inspired by the soft-horror franchise, which helped to turn Luigi into his own character instead of just a lean version of Mario.
If The Super Mario Bros. Movie proves successful, there are no limits to what Nintendo can bring to theaters. Illumination’s take on the mustachioed plumber already brings Donkey Kong and his extended family to the Mushroom Kingdom, so it would make sense to keep exploring other Nintendo IPs, especially those directly connected to Super Mario. So, yes, Luigi’s Mansion seems like the logical next step. How about Yoshi’s Island? Or Warioland? If the franchise goes to space, we can even dream about a Kirby crossover. There are dozens of game references in The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer alone. So, hopefully, Illumination and Nintendo are only starting to explore this fantastic universe.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie comes out of a warp pipe and into theaters on April 7. Check out Collider’s interview with Pratt and Day below:
