Movie Super Mario Bros. from Nintendo and Illumination comes out this week and expectations are pretty high for a film that features stunning animation and a likable cast of characters. The Hollywood Reporter spoke with Chris Pratt about the film during the film’s LA premiere on Saturday. Pratt admitted that he was “pretty nervous” when he accepted the offer to become the voice of Mario, knowing that legions of fans would have extremely high expectations of him. Fortunately, he is very pleased with how the film turned out, telling them that “there are cases when people make bad films and ruin people’s childhoods. So there was pressure not to do it and, luckily, we didn’t. I think the movie is fantastic and I think your childhood is firmly intact.” Here’s what he said:
“It makes sense, I was quite nervous when they offered it to me. I thought, ‘Wow, let’s not screw this up. That’s where it all comes from, I think. People are passionate about this character and have probably seen some of their favorite IPs screwed up. It’s a bit of a cynical job. People make movies just because the title has reach.”
“I saw it with The Lego Movie. I asked myself, ‘How are you going to make a Lego movie?’ What is that?’ And then Chris [Miller] and Phil [Lord] made this amazing movie, I was a part of it, I loved it. So it’s a big challenge. Just because something has reach doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good movie and there are cases of people making bad movies and ruining people’s childhoods. So there was pressure not to do it and, luckily, we didn’t. I think the movie is fantastic and I think your childhood is firmly intact.”
