It’s been several years since players knew that Nintendo was working with Illumination, the American studio behind The Minions, to prepare an animated Super Mario film. But recently the Kyoto firm announced that it had added the CEO of the same studio to its management. And this did not fail to challenge the shareholders of the video game glove.
Also Read: Super Mario Movie Officially Postpones Its Release Date
Nintendo recently held its 81st annual general meeting of shareholders. And as tradition dictates, the Japanese manufacturer organized a question-and-answer session with these shareholders on this occasion. During the latter, the President of Nintendo was asked about the recent appointment of Chris Meledandri, the American producer and CEO of Illumination, as Nintendo’s external director.
After Mario House repeatedly expressed its desire to bring Nintendo characters to a wider audience through things like amusement parks or movies, this shareholder wanted to know if the arrival of Chris Meledandri meant audiovisual content would have a more prominent place in Nintendo’s business in the future . What the president of the Japanese manufacturer Shuntaro Furukawa replied (via relay vonabout Nintendo):
Chris Meledandri is the founder of Illumination Entertainment and has experience as a producer on the creation of many films including the Moi, Ugly and Mchant series that featured the Minions. He has extensive experience and knowledge in both corporate management and entertainment. We therefore expect him to properly monitor our leadership from an objective point of view and at the same time give our managers valuable advice. Mr. Meledandri has been appointed as an independent and non-executive external director. He will therefore not be directly involved in carrying out the operations. On the other hand, we believe that his many years of experience and knowledge in the entertainment industry will have a positive effect on the decisions of our board of directors.
Shuntaro Furukawa adds that, in his opinion, it can only benefit from Nintendo’s core business, which remains the production of dedicated games and consoles, to produce content such as films that are presented to a non-public audience for the first time.
Miyamoto is also convincing
Shigeru Miyamoto, Deputy Director of Nintendo and the creator of many of the most famous characters for the Kyoto Company, explains for his part that he has been working with Chris Meledandri for Super Mario for more than five years and thanks to that he now understands “View from Nintendo Nintendo
According to him, the creative western media companies have a hard time understanding the way Nintendo thinks. However, he believes that the producer of the Minions “really really understand“the reasons why Nintendo creates its characters and works.
The other benefit of this collaboration with Chris Meledandri, according to Shigeru Miyamoto, is the knowledge of how the Hollywood film industry works that the American has acquired over time. As this industry is currently undergoing rapid change, it is interesting for Shigeru Miyamoto to be able to rely on the expertise of Chris Meledandri.
As of this writing, the Super Mario movie produced by Nintendo and Illumination has not yet been officially launched. Its theatrical release date is also unknown.
What do you think of these statements by Nintendo management? Do you think she’s right to hire a Hollywood producer? Would you prefer that she make her films on her own? Are you looking forward to the Super Mario movie? Tell us all about it in the comments below.
