The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a real hit. In its first five days in cinemas, the new animated film grossed over 375 million dollars worldwide. And despite many negative and meh reviews from critics, it is expected to soon surpass $1 billion at the box office. Indeed acc Shigeru Miyamoto– Mario’s father – actually these bad reviews helped The film has become so successful.
Released April 5th The Super Mario Bros. Movie had an endless amount of hype and marketing ahead of it as people geared up for the first Mario movie in almost 30 years. (The last was the disastrous and horrific 1993 live-action film. Remember that thing?) When it hit the screens earlier this month, the new CG-animated Mario movie – created by minions Makers Illumination Studios – Fans flocked to theaters to see it. While many fans enjoyed the film, the critical reception was far from great. Our own Carolyn Petit called it a “transparent, hollow commercial product that feels like it was designed in a lab‘ and she was not alone. Other reviews were also negative. But Miyamoto says that actually helped the film grow.
Ahead of the film’s release in Japan, Miyamoto spoke to press in the country about the film’s debut. its box office success around the globeand negative reviews from critics. VGC translated his answers and reported that he was surprised at how successful the film had been.
“I had certain expectations that this film would also do well,” Miyamoto said. “But I was very surprised that it went beyond what I could have imagined when it finally came out.”
Miyamoto attributed some of the film’s box office success to luck, but also drew negative reviews.
“It takes a bit of luck for a film to be that successful,” Miyamoto explained. “While many overseas critics have given the film relatively low ratings, I think that also contributed to the film’s notoriety and excitement.”
Miyamoto says he’s become a bit of a television critic
Interestingly, Miyamoto says he’s become a bit of a television critic himself over the past decade. He told the press that he watches a lot of morning TV shows in Japan and has apparently developed a reputation at Nintendo as a critic of morning shows.
“At Nintendo, I have the nickname ‘NHK Morning Drama Critic,'” Miyamoto admitted. “I review morning dramas every day and give various reviews. Sometimes I praise them as fantastic, and sometimes I point out their shortcomings.”
According to the famous game designer, his wife is fed up with his criticism, telling him that she “don’t want to hear it” and that he should “talk about it somewhere else.” He also told the press that he’s developed an interest in “creating drama” like the ones he observes and critiques, having done so for the past decade or so.
So here’s an idea for Miyamoto’s next project: A Japanese morning drama about game developers trying to finish a big project before a tight deadline. I would watch that.
