Mario & Luigi To Hit The Big Screen

The much beloved plumbers from the now three decade old 'Mario Brothers' video game are going to Hollywood.  Nintendo, which is struggling to keep up with changes in the gaming industry, and has yet to develop a strategy for mobile gaming - is hurting financially. So, it's no big surprise that the game-maker wants to move into the movie business - Mario and Luigi may be the answer.  To obtain the required funding for a foray into the movie business Nintendo intends to sell its stake in the Seattle Mariners baseball team, worth a reported $1.4 billion.

A feature film based upon the very popular Super Mario gaming franchise is, at least, two to three year out, but Nintendo has already started the process.  It plans to take the lead on production of the animated features and has no plans on licensing-out its characters. "The desire to develop new sources of income from our globally-recognized characters is a dominant part of our on-going business strategy", said Tatsumi Kimishima, Nintendo's President.

Nintendo's financial performance has been dismal for some time. Revenues have declined over the last seven straight years as sales of the Wii gaming console and 3DS hand-held player have plunged. Recently, Nintendo inked a deal with Comcast/Universal Studio's theme parks to create attractions based on its gaming characters - movies being the next logical step.

In 1993 a live-action movie entitled, 'Super Mario Brothers' hit the silver screen and was a flop. Other efforts to transition from games to movies have failed as well, the best known is Microsoft's efforts to bring the extremely successful 'Halo' game franchise to cinemas. However, the Mario Brothers are very well known by adults (who grew up with them) and children, alike.

CMG believes animated films are the way forward for Nintendo. Moviegoers crave animated films and given the popularity of the Mario Brothers it should be a sure bet.  'The Angry Birds Movie', based upon a hugely popular smartphone game, is currently in release and killing it at the box-office.

Best
Jim