It has its defenders that'll protect its honour from a hail of criticism, but the Super Mario Bros. movie isn't exactly universally loved. It was the film equivalent of interpretive dance — it vaguely resembled its subject matter but was ultimately confusing and bonkers.
It could have been an entirely different movie, however. Check out this tweet from Console Wars author Blake J. Harris, below, which outlines Nintendo's early pre-production plans for the movie.
Danny DeVito was planned to play "one of the brothers" though, frankly, due to his short stature he would inevitably be cast as Mario. More intriguingly Nintendo was lining up a heavy-hitting name to write the script — Barry Morrow is an oscar winning screenwriter (for Rain Man) that was working on the project but was not credited in the final result. Perhaps the zany and almost nonsensical approach that was adopted wasn't to his tastes.
Would you have liked Danny DeVito to star in this movie? Was not appearing in it the best move he ever made? He seems to have been Nintendo's number one choice, though he ended up number two.
Comments (31)
the main problem with the movie is the design of the characters
@ejvirzi Theres a lot of problems with the movie, the design of characters is certainly one of the major ones though.
But to be honest, despite how much that picture at the top freaks me out, thinking about it Danny DeVito certainly does seem like a good choice.
Wonder if Nintendo had a number one choice to be Luigi? And maybe, Nintendo should look to produce a proper Super Mario movie in the future.
@Kodeen I LOVE that episode, kills me every time
Changing actors would not make the rest of the movie any better...
I liked this film. It was an awesome blend of dinosaurs and Mario. Did Daisy actually originate in that or was she based on Daisy?
Love that end line Thomas! Devito was great alongside Michael Keaton's Batman.
Oh my god Danny DeVito I love your work!!!
anyone remember the Donkey Kong show? like how they had King K. Rule's tail strangely short?
1 milion points to whoever identifies whats the Batman Returns reference in this article....
(oops! sorry, apparently this was already mentioned...hehe)
There is no context where I would prefer watching de Vito to Hoskins
...Huh. That's interesting. Anyways, I know most people hate the film with a passion, but I find it to be a guilty pleasure.
Danny DeVito!
Keep in mind that an "Oscar-winning script writer" also wrote Batman & Robin. You know, the one with Arnie Freeze and Batnips.
The episode that the gang tries to figure out who knocked up Dee, in IASIP, Dennis plays Luigi and Mac was suppose to show up as Mario, or vice versa. Anyways Frank came as a spider - man, they missed a good opportunity to make Danny look all dressed up as Mario. Still a great episode.
Danny DeVito would've been great, but considering the guy they wound up casting was by no-means a slouch in Mr.Hoskins (RIP), I fear SMB would've been doomed regardless.
I remember when I was a kid hearing that Danny DeVito was in talks for the SMB movie. Next thing I know Bob Hoskins was casted and I never heard what happened with Danny. My brother said it was because he was doing Penguin at the time for Batman Returns and that's why they went with Bob Hoskins but I think he may be wrong cause those movies were about a year apart.
whether this would have made the movie better or not, we will probably never know
DeVito's good, but Bob Hoskins was perfect and not at all the problem with the movie.
@xj0462 It wouldn't have.
Still would have liked to have seen that Super Paper Mario movie that was talked about around 2007.
Devito is annoying. Don't like him. Hoskins did a good job.
That would have been slightly better which is
"Dodge Dragons and Rescue Princesses" ... whoa...is this foreboding of what's to come?...scary time for the plumber bros...
No dragons in SMB and there is only one Princess....Devito actually would have probably helped that movie but was wisely advised to work on something better...good for him
Ron Jeremy was most peoples favourite. Since he was a legendary porn actor, Nintendo wouldn't hire him.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oTM4yEhEgtA/SgEawH2H9VI/AAAAAAAAAek/q8uTtAzzeRA/s1600-h/mario2.jpg
They could change all actors, and the movie was poopeydoggiepoo.
It needed a proper director in the first place.
I seem to recall reading once that the original script had a kind of a weird, dark vibe, and the studio execs thought it wouldn't work for families and kids, so they tried to rework the whole thing in a couple of days, causing a seismic shift in the directing and staffing. The result was utter nonsense, but still retaining an odd darkness that just felt out of place given the ridiculous plot and overall sense of silliness.
It was a terrible, terrible movie. I would have liked to have seen the original treatment, because I think the concept could work.
Just once, I'd like to see a good video-game-to-movie transition.
I would rather they have had the Mario Bros. wielding flame throwers while fighting dinosaurs in the sewers than what they actually gave us on film.
@SethNintendo Oh definitely. If it comes on TV and I'm bored, I'd probably give it a watch just for the campy goodness. Terrible movie, but in a good way.
Ah I see, so this is why Sega was able to get him for the Sonic movie instead...
Love the "Returns" reference.
@DiscoGentleman I love the Super Mario Super Show I don't even find it god awful. Super Mario Bros. 3 was my favorite Nintendo cartoon though or maybe the mario world cartoon.
Probably would have been the better choice. But would it have saved the movie... hard to tell.
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