Summary
- Nintendo, Universal, and Illumination delved into film success with The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023.
- Donkey Kong may be the next Nintendo game to leap onto the big screen after the success of Mario's adaptation.
- Nintendo's collaboration with Universal hints at more film adaptations from popular franchises.
Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal rocked the international box office in 2023 when they released The Super Mario Bros. Movie into the wild. Since that film was successful beyond their wildest dreams, Nintendo is moving forward with numerous adaptations of their popular games and now we have an idea of which one might be coming down the pike in the near future.
Nintendo had been famously reluctant to let Hollywood touch their franchises after the debacle that was 1993's Super Mario Bros. A critical disaster that lost a whole bunch of money, the film crashed and burned so hard that the Big N wouldn't let any Tinseltown studio touch a Nintendo property for nearly thirty years. Japanese animation studios got to bring titles like Pokémon and Animal Crossing to life, but Hollywood was shut off for a good long while. Then Nintendo partnered with Universal to bring Super Nintendo World to various Universal Studios theme parks around the world and the door was seemingly opened for more partnerships down the line. Nintendo gaming mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto would eventually work with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri to create an all-new Super Mario Bros. Adaptation and the rest was history. At the moment, a 2026 sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently in production and a live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda is also in the works with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Wes Ball signed on as director.
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Nintendo seems hellbent on riding the video game adaptation train, but one of its most popular franchises ever is waiting for a shot at the big time.
The rumor mill has been churning about a Donkey Kong adaptation for a while now, with Seth Rogen—who voiced Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie—stating his desire to return for a spin-off film back in 2023. Now, Nintendo Studios LLC and Universal Pictures have officially registered for the copyright for an "Unititled Donkey Kong Project" motion picture. Given that a brand new Donkey Kong game is set to release for Nintendo Switch 2 later this week, it makes sense that they'd get this copyright registered if a big announcement is on the way. Or, they could simply be covering their bases just in case. Anything is possible in Hollywood.
Nintendo And Universal Might Be Working On A Donkey Kong Film Adaptation
Given that the Donkey Kong character has already been established with general audiences thanks to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it makes sense that Nintendo and Universal would at least kick the tires on a Donkey Kong film. DK is a flagship character for Nintendo, debuting way back in 1981 and has appeared in dozens of video games over the years. Platforming classics like Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong 64 as well as appearances in the Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Franchises have kept Donkey Kong's popularity high over the decades.
It's hard to guess what a Donkey Kong film would look like at this stage, but it would almost assuredly be an animated film. Could you even imagine a live-action Donkey Kong movie? What would that even look like? No, the safe money is on a spin-off of 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie featuring Seth Rogen returning as DK. No matter which way Nintendo and Universal go with this, a Donkey Kong flick is still years down the line.
For now, we'll just have to wait for next year's sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie that is sure to make Nintendo a lot more money.
- Brand
- Nintendo
Source: publicrecords.copyright.gov