All of this means we haven’t seen the last of the Nintendo X Illumination collaboration yet. Now, The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 is no brainer, but we wonder if there are any other Nintendo IPs out there that might be attractive to the studio behind it. Despicable me and The Secret Life of Pets.
Obviously, everyone wants to see a Zelda or a Metroid movie, but none of these franchises feel Law for Illumination which, let’s face it, usually stands firmly on the cute side of things.
So what would be the right Nintendo product for Meledandri and Co. to follow him? We’ve tried to tackle this very question below, first breaking down the safe options that could possibly come from a Mario movie, before moving on to those that are either subtly hinted at in the movie or that we just feel would be a good fit.
We should also point out that we’ll be going into some detail about what happens in the Mario movie with some of our ideas below, so if you’ve yet to see the movie and don’t want anything spoiled, then it might be best not to read ahead of time until you will have a chance to make up for it.
Let the Illuminati speculation begin!
Which franchise should Nintendo Illumination tackle next?
Donkey Kong
Aside from the obvious Mario Movie sequel, this option seems to be the lowest hanging fruit in the series. Audiences seem to be divided over Seth Rogan’s performance as Nintendo’s iconic gorilla, but parts of the Jungle Kingdom movie are some of the most profound world-building it has to offer.
When Mario, Peach, and Toad take their first ride through the kingdom’s spiral tracks, one of the first things that came to mind (after “a new Mario Kart track, please”) was how ripe this world seemed for further exploration. Add to this the fact that you already have performances in DK, Cranky, Funky, Diddy, and Dixie Kong to play, and a movie with this ensemble starts to feel like it would write itself.
Donkey Kong already has his own games, so who’s to say a solo movie wouldn’t be just as good?
Luigi’s castle
We loved Charlie Day’s Luigi in Mario. What we didn’t like was how little screen time he had. So why not make the most of this situation and make him the sole focus of a future tie-in movie?
There were little hints of Luigi’s mansion interspersed with his brother’s arrival in Bowser’s domain (Brian Tyler, you genius), and now we want more. You take it Ghost busters-kid-friendly level of cool and stretch it to a 90-minute runtime to give Charlie Day a chance to really add some flesh to the character and you’re on to a winner.
Much like the DK spinoff, the big plus of going down the Luigi’s Mansion route would be the number of characters you can include. E. Gadd, King Boo, Polterpup, not to mention the obligatory cameo from Mario at the end. We’ve seen Luigi as a brother in peril on the big screen, so why not flip the script?
Captain Frog
We admit, this is not so likely. HoweverThe frog we see in the Mario movie bears a striking resemblance to one Captain Toad, the Treasure Hunter, and we knowing that there are adventures there.
There are definitely worse options than an adventure film that features Keegan-Micheal Key’s frog traveling the kingdoms of the first film in search of this or that MacGuffin. Meditate Indiana Jones on helium and suddenly the prospects sound a little better, eh?
Star fox
Now we’re in franchise territory that was actually hinted at in the movie. Spoilers ahead…
At one point we see a TV in Mario’s room where he’s playing his NES (more on that later), but on top of the TV is a model of Arwing from Star Fox — hey, more obscure spinoff cues have been used in the past (we’re looking at you, Marvel) .
The idea of Illumination taking over a Star Fox movie actually doesn’t sound that bad. The studio knows how to make cute animals (The Secret Life of Pets, To sing) and seeing the game series translated into an all-encompassing sci-fi experience on the big screen would be something real.
We’re imagining dogfights in space, animalistic action, and of course, enough Illumination quips to make it all lighthearted enough to earn a PG rating.
Little Icarus
Remember the Mario NES we just mentioned? This is the game he played.
Yes, the prospect of Nintendo working on another Kid Icarus game anytime soon seems like a pipe dream, so what better way to bring the masses back than a big ol’ fantasy epic?
The actual connection between this link and the Mario movie might be like the one in between Toy story and Light year — the latter is a film set in the universe of the former. This would allow Illumination to lean back on the gameplay references and make a film that reintroduces audiences to the Nintendo franchise and works as a stand-alone picture.
Pikmin
The Pikmin are more likely to make a Luxo Ball-esque cameo in any future Illumination X Nintendo project than to get their own movie, but the studio certainly has a history of giving the brightly colored little alien species a starring role.
There are quite a few of them Pikmin shorts which you can find on YouTube and were made by Dynamo Studios (since bought by Nintendo to form a company creatively called ‘Nintendo Pictures’), so perhaps the series could be a small pre-movie sketch before the feature films based on Nintendo.
But this is Illumination we’re talking about, and you just have to look subjects movies see that they loos supporting the little man.
Kirby
There’s no deeper thought behind this than the idea that if you inflated a Minion and dipped it in pink paint, you wouldn’t be a million miles away from Kirby.
Much like the previous Pikmin concept, this one is based on Illumination’s love of smooth, round protagonists, and Kirby fits the bill perfectly. Would we actually want to hear Kirby speak real human words? Frankly, the thought sends a chill down my spine. But if the movie was going to lean on the interstellar, Warp Star-ing elements of the franchise, then we could definitely be convinced.
It would be fun, cute, and lead to potentially the largest range of tie-in merchandise the plush market has ever seen.
Animal Crossing
A relaxed animated ‘Day in the Life’ set in the world of Animal Crossing is actually a very enjoyable idea indeed. Japan got one and surely it’s time for another one given the series’ global popularity?
As we’ve noted before, Illumination has shown no problem with anthropomorphized animals (hell, you could probably port many of the models from Sing 2 and no one would notice) and Animal Crossing is surely the granddaddy of them all.
Would this be better described as a gritty drama, following a human wage slave forced to live in isolation under the thumb of his tyrannical master Tom Nook? Could be. But the sweet and cuddly route would also be appropriate, where the biggest drama is how to rehouse your friends instead of struggling with massive financial debt.
Splatoon
It’s true, the chances of Illumination making a product focused on firearms-based warfare are very slim, but we all said the same thing about Nintendo before it announced Splatoon, right? And the studio works have a shape when it comes to firearms. Hehehe, bottom.
The whole relentlessly spraying opponents thing might not immediately scream ‘Illumination’, but there’s definitely potential here with the show’s global warming message, young protagonists and (yet again) room for talking animals — albeit ones that are a bit more squid than the studio accustomed.
Of all the Nintendo franchises, Splatoon is the one that offers the best opportunity for some live music sequences as well. Illumination brings it into their films like there’s no tomorrow (remember how unnecessarily difficult it is Despicable me soundtrack?), so the opportunity to insert some original material from Deep Cut or Squid Sisters into the script would be a strong enough selling point in itself, we can imagine.
Well, there you have it. Those are just a few of the Nintendo franchises Illumination could face, ranging from likely to unlikely flying pigs. Which one would you be first in line to buy a ticket for? Fill out the survey below to have your say.
Are there any others we missed? Leave a comment and let us know your suggestion for Illumination’s next video game movie.
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