Illumination and Nintendo Announce Theatrical Release Date and Voice Cast for the Super Mario Bros. Animated Film
24.9.2021 02:46:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Illumination (HQ: Santa Monica, CA, USA; Founder and CEO: Chris Meledandri) and Nintendo Co., Ltd. (HQ: Kyoto, Minami-ku, Japan; Representative Director and President: Shuntaro Furukawa, “Nintendo” hereafter) today announced that their new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. will be released worldwide during the 2022 holiday season. Universal Pictures will release the film in North America on December 21, 2022, with the release schedule for additional countries and regions to be announced at a future date. The film will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo.
In addition, the two companies announced the voice actors for the characters Mario (Chris Pratt), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Luigi (Charlie Day), Bowser (Jack Black), Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen), Kamek (Kevin Michael Richardson) and Spike (Sebastian Maniscalco). Each voice actor was cast for their ability to capture the unique spirit of their character.
This new animated film will be produced by Chris Meledandri of Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who previously collaborated on the animated series Teen Titans Go! and the film Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. The screenplay of the film will be written by Matthew Fogel, whose writing credits include The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part and the upcoming Illumination film Minions: The Rise of Gru.
“Mario and Luigi are two of the most beloved heroes in all of popular culture, and we are honored to have the unique opportunity to work so closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and the widely imaginative team at Nintendo to bring these characters to life in an animated movie, unlike any film Illumination has made to date,” said Chris Meledandri, Illumination’s Founder and CEO, and outside director of Nintendo.
“We are collaborating with Chris and his experienced team to not just create a character licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings Super Mario Bros. to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game. The production so far is constructive and going very well, and both parties are learning a lot from each other. We humbly ask that fans wait just a little longer for the premiere, and we hope they look forward to seeing the unique characters from Super Mario Bros. on the big screen,” said Shigeru Miyamoto, Representative Director, Fellow of Nintendo.
- Voice cast
Mario – Chris Pratt
Princess Peach – Anya Taylor-Joy
Luigi – Charlie Day
Bowser – Jack Black
Toad – Keegan-Michael Key
Donkey Kong – Seth Rogen
Cranky Kong – Fred Armisen
Kamek – Kevin Michael Richardson
Spike – Sebastian Maniscalco
??? – Charles Martinet
- About the Super Mario Bros. animated film
This Super Mario Bros. animated film, which will be produced by Chris Meledandri of Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, is scheduled to be released during the 2022 holiday season. It will premiere on December 21, 2022, in North America. The release schedule for additional countries and regions will be announced at a future date. The film will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo, released worldwide by Universal Pictures.
- About Illumination
Illumination, founded by Academy Award® nominee Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry's leading producers of event-animated films. The company's franchises include two of the top-four animated films of all time, and its iconic, beloved brands infused with memorable and distinct characters, global appeal and cultural relevance have grossed more than $6.25 billion worldwide. Illumination was honored by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative companies.
- About Nintendo
Nintendo Co., Ltd., headquartered in Kyoto, Japan, has created franchises that have become household names worldwide, including Mario™, Donkey Kong™, The Legend of Zelda™, Metroid™, Pokémon™, Animal Crossing™, Pikmin™ and Splatoon™, through its integrated hardware and software products. Nintendo aims to deliver unique, intuitive entertainment experiences for everyone, manufacturing and marketing video game devices such as the Nintendo Switch™ family of systems, developing and operating applications for smart devices, and collaborating with partners on a range of other entertainment initiatives like visual content and theme parks. Nintendo has sold more than 5.1 billion video games and over 800 million hardware units globally. From the launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System™ more than 30 years ago, through today and into the future, Nintendo’s continuing mission is to create unique entertainment that puts smiles on the faces of people all over the world.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210923006003/en/
Contact information
For Illumination
Sarah Levinson Rothman
sarah.rothman@ledecompany.com
917-623-6060
For Nintendo
Eddie Garcia
egarcia@golin.com
213-335-5536
or
Cindy Gordon
cindgo02@noa.nintendo.com
650-226-4040
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Brightfin Unveils Budget Clarity AI, Giving Every Finance and IT Leader a Financial Analyst at the Tip of Their Fingers29.9.2026 17:18:00 EEST | Press release
Brightfin, the leader in technology financial management, today announced Budget Clarity AI, a new capability that gives finance and IT teams instant, self-service answers to the budget questions they field dozens of times a day. Built into the Brightfin platform, Budget Clarity AI acts as an always-available financial analyst, letting users ask plain-language questions about their spend and get grounded answers, visualizations, and recommendations in seconds. Finance and IT leaders are fielding an ever-growing volume of ad-hoc budget questions from stakeholders across the business, while the analysts who could answer them are stretched thin. Budget Clarity AI is designed to close that gap. Users don't need to know ServiceNow, and they don't need to know Brightfin's products — they only need to know what they're trying to get done, and the tool routes them to the answer in one click. What Budget Clarity AI Delivers A simplified experience: users don't need to know ServiceNow or Brightf
Laserfiche Names Garrett Boss as CIO to Lead Enterprise IT, Security, and Business Transformation29.9.2026 17:00:00 EEST | Press release
Laserfiche — the leading SaaS provider of intelligent content management and business process automation — today announced the appointment of Garrett Boss as chief information officer. Boss will oversee Laserfiche’s global IT services team and business transformation office, including deployment of internal Laserfiche solutions and all other enterprise-wide IT systems. In this role, he will also oversee governance, risk, and compliance, supporting Laserfiche's mission to scale AI innovation while safeguarding the critical content and lifecycle tools customers rely on. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929335686/en/ Garrett Boss joins Laserfiche as chief information officer. “Laserfiche’s own technology infrastructure and security posture are central to how we deliver an exceptional product and responsive services,” said CEO Karl Chan. “Garrett is a proven leader with a track record of leading global IT and go
Andersen Global Strengthens Argentina Presence with Fidem Partners29.9.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
Andersen Global expands its tax and transaction capabilities in Argentina through a Collaboration Agreement with Fidem Partners, strengthening its presence and service offerings in the market. Established in 2011, Fidem Partners advises businesses on tax and compliance, M&A, and business process outsourcing. The firm serves companies across the energy, technology, financial services, agribusiness, and consumer goods sectors with deep experience serving subsidiaries of multinational companies in Argentina. Its multidisciplinary team draws on experience from leading professional services firms and business environments to provide practical guidance throughout the key stages of the business lifecycle. "Most of our work is with subsidiaries of multinational companies operating in Argentina, where the regulatory environment demands judgment, not just compliance," said Darío H. Díaz, managing partner of Fidem Partners. "Collaborating with Andersen Global gives our clients access to a global
CEO Pay Tops $18 Million as Turnover Drives Six-Year High in Sign-On Bonuses, According to Diligent29.9.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Median granted CEO pay at S&P 500 companies rose by more than 8% in 2025 to reach $18.2 million, while cash sign-on bonuses for incoming CEOs hit a six-year high, according to the Executive Compensation in 2026 report from Diligent Market Intelligence. The findings point to a more consequential compensation environment for boards: leadership talent is in shorter supply, CEO transitions are costly, and investors continue to scrutinize how pay decisions connect to performance and long-term value. The Russell 3000 also saw remuneration packages grow larger, with median granted CEO pay climbing over 2% to $7.4 million. “This level of growth has been fueled by performance-based equity and stock awards while both indices have been delivering strong total shareholder returns,” said Josh Black, Editor-in-Chief of Diligent Market Intelligence. “Boards are also increasingly viewing CEOs as a scarce global talent pool.” CEO turnover drives higher transition costs Cash sign-on bonuses for new S&P
Momentum Grows for Miro MCP as Users Embrace the Canvas for AI Collaboration29.9.2026 16:00:00 EEST | Press release
Miro®, the collaboration and context layer for the AI era, has reported more than 16 million calls to its MCP server since its launch in February 2026, with usage more than doubling since May. In September alone, MCP calls are on track to reach 6 million*. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929837812/en/ Miro's MCP server is a Model Context Protocol integration letting AI tools connect to Miro boards—creating diagrams, tables, and canvas content, and reading existing board data programmatically. Teams increasingly rely on AI to accelerate work—from discovery and planning to design and code. Yet most AI interactions happen in chat windows or static outputs that exist separately from the team's actual workspace. Miro's MCP server changes this by giving users a way to make the output from their AI tools visual, immediately editable, and accessible to the whole team on a shared canvas. Miro user data shows Claude
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom