The rumor machine started over a year ago and someone remains convinced that a spin-off dedicated to his first historical nemesis, Donkey Kong, will derive from Super Mario Bros. – Fil Film (in cinemas from April 6). Is there anything true? Pending official confirmations, four factors play in favor.
Con Super Mario Bros. – The Movie coming to the cinema from April 6ththe fans’ thirst increases even before being quenched, and for more than a year we have read on the net about the possibility of one spin-off dedicated to Donkey Kongwhich appears in trailer of the cartoon and in the original, as we know, he is voiced by Seth Rogen. But is there any confirmation or for now are they just hopes, supported by very weak voices?
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Donkey Kong, a spin-off from Super Mario Bros. – The Movie?
Not that the Nintendo was in a huge hurry to endorse Super Mario Bros. – The Moviemade byIllumination Entertainment of the Minions, on behalf of Universal. Cinephile-playful nerdisms aside, which give the strength to re-evaluate anything, the Super Mario Bros. of 1993 with Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo was an economic disaster and certainly not a flagship for the company. After much hesitation, the idea that one already descends rapidly from the upcoming animated film spin-offwithout even verifying the outcome of this, appears a bit risky due to the rigor of Shigeru Miyamoto, who we remember of the film is also coproducer. At the same time three factors play in favor of these voices.
The first is that Nintendo had already announced in 2021 that they have in the pipeline new animated projects relating to its properties, although no individual or specific partner in the audiovisual sector has been explicitly mentioned. A rumor spread in November 2021 had spoken of this very spin-off, and it is the origin of these hopes.
The second factor is that in the wake of those rumors, Nintendo started aexpansion Of their theme park in Osaka, the Super Nintendo World, with a section dedicated to Donkey Kong (which, however, would make sense regardless, given the importance of the character in their stable).
The third factor is that a major label like the Universalkey partner of the Super Mario Bros. – Il Film operation, is still one of the most important Hollywood majors, and it is known that the big studios now live on “universe” (unintentional pun). In this dynamic of narrative universes, binding yourself with partners like Marvel, Lucasfilm or Nintendo means you already have run-in tanks of characters, intertwined worlds and/or histories, and all that remains is to transpose or articulate these interweavings in cinema or on platforms. It is difficult to start now with the prospect of a self-contained work.
The fourth factor is that theIllumination Entertainment is one of the most avid animation studios, in terms of sequels and subsidiaries: so far we have seen three chapters of despicable Me (with a fourth coming in summer 2024), two Minions that of that other saga are spin-offs, two Sing and two Pets (with a third act still in the works with no release date).
Summing up, there is currently no evidence that a cinematic spin-off focused on is in the pipeline Donkey Kongbut everything surrounding Nintendo’s activity on the big screen would make it quite plausible. Moreover, it is good to remember that the ape debuted in 1981 in the arcades together with Mario, with the game that however bore his name, and that the first Mario Bros. would have landed in the arcade only in 1983. Kong alone then has acquired over the years an aura that is not necessarily a villain: already in Donkey Kong Jr. of 1982 his son, controlled by the player, tried to save him, while the Rare platformers of the Nineties, those of the series Donkey Kong Country for SNES, they cemented him in the imagination as an alternative hero in the Nintendo world, in the same way as the mustachioed plumber.
