Nintendo partners with Minions studio to produce animated Super Mario movie

Nintendo has confirmed that it will be co-producing a movie starring Mario with Illumination Entertainment, the animation studio behind Despicable Me, Minions, and The Secret Life of Pets. Shigeru Miyamoto will co-produce alongside Chris Meledandri, CEO of Illumination, Nintendo announced on Twitter. The partnership was first reported by The Wall Street Journal in November of last year.

According to Reuters, the feature-length film will be distributed by Universal Pictures. No release date has been decided. This marks the first major feature-length film for Nintendo since 1993’s much-derided live-action Super Mario Bros. movie starring Bob Hoskins, Dennis Hopper and John Leguizamo — a film that its director recently called “a harrowing experience. It was hell.” This one, thankfully and mercifully, will be animated.

Nintendo this week also announced that lifetime hardware sales of the Switch had already surpassed that of its last console, the Wii U, less than a year after the new console’s debut. The company also announced that Mario Kart will be its next smartphone game.