Illumination CEO 'Loves' Chris Pratt as Mario in the Upcoming Mario Animated Movie - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 21 June 2022 / 2,077 Views
Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri on stage at Barcelona's CineEurope event discussed why the studio went with Chris Pratt to voice Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated movie.
"Chris was cast because we felt he could give a great performance as Mario," said Meledandri via Variety. "And now that we’ve done about 15 recording sessions, and the movie is three-quarters done, I sit here and say that I love his performance as Mario."
He also said that Chris has "Italian American heritage" and "he could make that decision without worrying about offending Italians or Italian Americans."
"I think we’re gonna be just fine," Meledandri added. "Especially because (Pratt) he’s given such a strong performance."
The Super Mario Bros. movie will hit theaters on April 7, 2023 in North America and April 28 in Japan.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
He's so cool
It's voice acting. The way some people react, you'd think Chris Pratt was cast as Mario in a live action film. And, that would probably still turn out better than the Bob Hoskins + John Leguizamo film from 1993 even if it were so. All animated movies go for a Hollywood voice for it's leads (Will Arnett as Batman in Lego Batman, Ben Schwartz as Sonic, etc).
I'm going to love this movie!
What’s funny is this is probably Chris Pratt’s most controversial casting, ever :D
Chris Pratt’s performance is probably the only thing I find interesting about this film right now, because it’s likely going to be another formulaic and conventionally paced blockbuster-sort; I generally am not a fan of blockbusters, even if they cover themes I enjoy in books. I think Pratt’s an alright actor, I liked him a lot as Andy in Parks and Rec (basically, an Ashton Kutcher/Kelso type character), and seems a good fit for blockbuster films—I did watch one of the recent Jurassic Parks and he did a good job in it.
Nothing against Chris Pratt, he's a very talented guy
I think it will be weird hearing mario voiced by someone other then charles martinet
I wonder if Charles was too busy voicing another dragon for elder Scrolls 6
