Like every other major video game franchise at the moment, Super Mario is being adapted into a big-screen movie.
If you've been wondering if the voice of Mario, Charles Martinet, will voice the iconic plumber in the upcoming CGI film, you might be interested in reading on. In Charles' words, he apparently hasn't been contacted by Nintendo or Illumination at this stage.
"Well it sounds like a marvellous thing, it sounds like great fun and if they invite me to play, I'll go in and play with great joy and happiness."
"It should be a lot of fun, you know, everything illumination touches looks like it's fun and Nintendo, too."
If this is the case, perhaps production hasn't got around to casting decisions just yet. In saying this, Hollywood also seems to have a bit of a habit of replacing video game character voice talent with movie celebrities.
Just earlier this week, for example, Jack Black was announced as the voice of Borderlands' Claptrap. At the time, the original voice of the character said it was a "crushing disappointment" to miss out on the role, but wished Black all the best.
The Super Mario CGI movie is due out in 2022. Nintendo is proactively involved in its creation and Shigeru Miyamoto is onboard as a co-producer.
How would you feel about Charles not voicing Mario in the upcoming film? Do you still think he'll be cast as the voice of Mario in this big-screen version? Share your thoughts down below.
[source youtu.be, via gonintendo.com]
Comments 110
I can't see anyone else in that role, so I really hope he gets it.
Why wouldn't he? That would just be a stupid move to not let him do the voice
Nintendo should, but they won’t.
This implies that it wasn't being done already.
I really hope Illumination puts aside their usual "cheapness" when making movies for the sake of making this one good. Despicable Me 3 was okay at best, the Minions movie was annoying to sit through, Secret Life of Pets 1 and 2 were forgettable, and Sing was just a poor man's Zootopia. So they better do this right.
Kinda scared since this implies he hasn’t been contacted for voice work despite the movie being so close to the release date
With the movie in development, I'd long assumed Charles would have already signed up to voice Mario, since he's the main source for it in all the games since 1990.
I'll be peeved if David Hayter doesn't voice Mario in the movie. Matt Damon is a close second.
You know what? Even if he doesn't end up in the Mario movie, I'd be fine with it. I love Charlies Martinet as Mario, but I don't think that specific voice would work for an entire movie (without it getting really grating after a while). Besides, it's not like ht was the ONLY voice Mario ever had.
In fact, I know this won't happen, but I REALLY want them to get Walker Boone, the voice of Mario in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Super Mario World cartoon, to reprise the role, THAT would be a nice bit of fanservice!
@Moviefan2k4
I thought his first voice role as mario was in mario 64.
They’re gonna pull a Scoob, I betcha.
Such a shame talented voice actors get snubbed for celebrities. In an ideal world names like Tom Kenny, Rob Paulson, and Tara Strong would be just as recognised as Brad Pitt and Will Smith.
@Zeldafan79 His first role in a game was Mario Teaches Typing, he had voiced Mario at events for Nintendo beforehand.
@Noid
Mario Teaches Typing 2, actually.
It’s going to be a Ryan Reynolds or Tom Holland, isn’t it?
@Noid
I remember hearing about that one but never tried it. I still to this day never learned to type. I just hunt and peck.
I was not aware he played mario before 1996. Good to know!
DANNY DEVITO
D A N N Y D E V I T O
what they didn't get him on board yet? I need him to play mario please I need him.
If they don't use him as the main voice, they should have him do at least something in the film as a nod to the series.
There's absolutely no way they would cast someone else, especially considering Shigeru Miyamoto is working on the movie.
@Smashmatt202 : I agree with you. I like Martinet as Mario, but I'm not sure I'd want to hear him speak in full sentences for 90 minutes.
But more so than that, I absolutely loathe the practice of stunt casting. Aside from the general grotesqueness of Western 3D animation, the fact that most of the characters are performed by flavour-of-the-month celebrities in their everyday voices puts me off even more.
@Smashmatt202 If it's not going to be Charles, it has to be Walker. Anyone else will be awful.
If he hasn't already been cast and is simply lying, then he isn't providing the voice. The script would have been recorded a long time ago.
Sadly, CG movie marketing for theatrical release is entirely hinged on the star power of the voice cast. It’s just the way it goes.
Even the remote possibility that they wouldn't immediately go to Charles to voice Mario is just mind-blowing to me.
Buried lede: they haven’t cast him yet, therefore the movie isn’t very far along in development, therefore it might not come out at all. Probably the best news we’ve had all week.
"Charles Martinet Would Love To Make Millions of Dollars."
The actual title. lol
I really love Mario... but would anybody stand 90 minutes of that voice????
Please no. Its fun for a "woohoo!" here, and a "Its me-a! there"... but a whole movie listen to him would be unbearable.
Won’t happens, as usual some B-list pre-teenage soap star / youtuber/ tictoker will be casted. No talent , but a vaguely known name to be splashed on the poster...
Let’s’ be ready, we gamers, to make a sonic effect again...
Does anyone remember that Charles voiced several minutes of Mario speaking for some Nintendo e3 thing years ago? I remember every post was complaining about how hard it was to listen to it. Seriously. Not one positive response.
I remember when Mario 64 came out all my friends at school thought it sounded like Mario got hit in the nuts. Maybe we were used to the voice in the cartoons at the time. Anyways, I'd bet they're going to use someone else for the movie.
Lol mario will sound like vegeta in this movie "its over 9000!"
No, but serious why didnt they let him do the voice?
@Smashmatt202 I absolutely agree. I like Martinet's characterization, but I honestly think the voice acting in the old Mario Bros. cartoons was more fitting for what Mario IS. Which is to say, a plumber from Brooklyn.
Honestly, I don't even know why they ended up giving Mario a high pitched voice in the games to begin, but I've learned to live with it.
Of course he is going to voice the Super Mario. He just can’t talk about what is going on about is movie so i believe what he said is just a lie. It’s better that way course he has to sign some nda agreement.
A Mario movie with pages and pages of dialogue really does not require the VA of the videogames with their handful of words.
Just like the movie does not require frame after frame of Mario Odyssey locales.
Anyway, feels like a silly discussion as surely they have already cast the role? Admittedly they may not have begun recording it yet, but they know who Mario is and Mario knows who he is too...!!
@JR150 Sing may not be the same tier of Zootopia, but it doesn't even have ANYTHING to do with Zootopia (unless it's a category to dump anything anthro into, like some parents call every console under the sun "Nintendo" or "PlayStation"), let alone being anything "poor man's". It was impressive enough to earn five or six cinema visits on my part alone, one of those works that pitch a relatively simple story but elevate it through a vivid lovable cast and plenty of clever details throughout. A very neat OST collection, too. Easily my most memorable experience with Illumination so far, and I look forward to the sequel just to see what else this crazy bunch - meaning the folks on both sides of the workstation screen, really - may get through.
Even if you don't want Mario's regular voice for a movie, Martinet is still a talented voice actor capable of other voices. He's done other roles really well and should be in the movie.
There is a world of difference between what amounts to a few phrases uttered in high pitch for a video game, and a character's full dialogue in a movie script.
I would bet the studio has chosen a bigger profile actor for the role, as the voice casting has as much importance as the look of the animation these days, and if they were going to use him I bet the deal would have already been done.
If it's anything like the new Sonic movie voice acting it will be cringe worthy.
Will Mario speak in the movie beyond the bog-standard "Wahoo!" and "Yeah!" like in the games?
A lot of people saying that Martinet's Mario voice wouldn't work for full sentences or that it would become unbearable over the course a full film.
But he's a good actor and he has range - his second most famous role is Paarthunax from Skyrim, which is completely different from his Mario. So, I think he'd definitely be capable of adjusting the performance or changing the voice to make it work in a different medium. It might even only take small adjustments.
Not a great example, but some of the original Transformers actors returned for the Michael Bay movies. But when they came back, they didn't just do the cartoon voices again - the voices were modified and developed to fit the movies (because the movies called for different characterisations and also because the size of the robots was different etc.).
Voice actors are immensely talented and adaptable (it seems you have to be to keep working in that field). So I really think Martinet could reinterpret Mario for film. I have a feeling they'll recast like with Sonic but I do hope they consider him.
Edit: If they did have to recast, I'd hope they'd go for someone like Roberto Benigni. An actual Italian would help prevent it from becoming a stereotype and his voice isn't a million miles away from what we think of Mario.
These days I just couldn't imagine Mario with any other voice anymore, Martinet is just so ingrained as Mario's voice to me.
That said I don't think it'll be a very voice heavy movie to begin with. At least not with a lot of full sentences.
@nhSnork
I only called it a "poor man's Zootopia" because Zootopia is a straight up better animal movie that came out around the same time. I didn't mean to insinuate that Sing ripped it off or anything. Sing just feels like a low-effort film that tried to appeal to a bunch of demographics with "relatable" characters like the overworked pig mom, porcupine that got cheated on, gorilla whose dad was in jail, and so on. But ultimately it just fell flat and ended up being forgettable due to none of the characters having a real arc or developing. It was just a "save the rec center" plot.
But that's just my opinion.
Now if you enjoyed it, cool. More power to you. I respect your opinion.
I would expect anyone else to mimic old Brooklyn Mario to current soft voiced Mario. Then again they got Cullen for Transformers so who knows.
It's hollywood, they are going to get a "big" name.
As much as his voice is iconic for the Mario brothers and co but it's super weird when he speaks in full sentences, it might be easier to have "proper movie voice actor" to use his performance as a base whilst toning some elements down to work. This worked with Sonic, it should work with Mario.
@Bizaster,
Evidence the movie is going to be a disaster, if he is not involved?
lol @ everyone here thinking a no-name voice actor from video games is going to be headlining a major studio movie release 😂
If they invite him? Normally I wouldn't care, but this man IS Marios voice. They dang well better. I don't want to hear some famous actor doing an impression of him. Also, I'd hope Mario isn't doing a lot of talking. At most one word stuff, and like three sentences the whole movie.
John Goodman for Bowser
We have a Kiefer Sutherland situation again?
I think Martinet is great for 'woohoo's and 'it's a me's but would he be good for a whole movie? I think they'll get a bigger name that can do decent turn as Mario. They won't leave anything to chance with this one.
@JR150 I disagree, I think Sing was just a way to get kids interested in pop songs that just so happen to be from artists signed to Universal Music Group, since Universal produced the movie and coincidentally kept all the royalties in house
@SuperCharr
Or Norm MacDonald
I would love it to be done in a tough gritty Brooklyn accent
Can we stop showing his face though. Breaks the illusion
Wait, he doesn't have right to first offer?
Haha, I guess I should be shocked given he's in America where everyone is just a tool to be exploited by the rich, but still, kinda shocking.
The Pikachu voice actress has right to first offer (meaning she has to be offered the role to voice Pikachu before anyone else) and she says one word! The Squid Sisters, Off the hook, Japan's peach (both the current and the pervious one) all have this as well.
It's amazing to see one company treat people so differently based on what office you are dealing with.
Yeah, knowing how CG films are made, I find it rather unlikely that most of the voice work wouldn't have been recorded already.
But there's always hoping!
Martinet is the only real voice for Mario.
It’ll end up being an Angry Birds Movie situation where they end up getting big name actors to fill the roles. Plus, big names on a Poster help sell the Movie, even though it’ll be aimed more at kids like a lot of the Merchandise is (although us Big Kids buy it too 😂)
I have a feeling they’ll go for someone like Charlie Day for the energy of the character.
I wonder if it’s a Unionisation thing too, like with Ben Schwartz only playing Sonic on the Big Screen.
Overall though, I hope the Movie is made with love, like Sonic was. Mario deserves it. Yeah there will be silly jokes for the kids, and it’s Illumination, but with Shiggsy involved, I can imagine it’ll look gorgeous and not be too dumbed down.
If he doesn't it would be garbage, but it's Illumination so it will probably a random celebrity.
Well, I can think of a reason for why they might get someone else for the role.
The way he speaks Mario is not always very understandable this is perfectly fine and iconic for the games, but might be a problem for the movie.
Depends on how the movie is structured, dialog wise, and how well he is able to adjust his Mario voice, without losing his identity.
Plot twist: He will voice Luigi.
I have zero confidence he will be voicing Mario. I hate how Hollywood takes well known characters and gives their voices to big name actors. I'm sure they do it because they think people won't see the movie unless "actor name" is in the credits. There are tons of examples like the article says. Look at Scoob. Despite the excellent voice cast over 50+ years of cartoons, the studio decided to only keep Frank Welker as Scooby. These big actors don't need the money.
Wait hold up , the studio that made despicable me are doing a mario movie ? ... This could actually be pretty good
Gotta love the irony of an article discussing the tendency to replace the original actors with big names that refers to the original actor portraying Claptrap simply as "the original voice of the character."
Imagine anyone else voicing Mario
if Charles Martinet don't voice Mario on his movie, i refuse to watch his movie.
Please no. His Mario is very annoying, and grating on my ears.
@Smashmatt202 i would be very happy with the guy who voiced Mario in the SMB3 cartoon
@Splodge What are you on about? As awful as those movies were, they did bring back Hasbro veterans Peter Cullen, Frank Welker and Charles Adler.
If he doesn't get the role then the movie will be just as bad as the Bob Hoskins one. ***** Hollywood
@Tempestryke Yes, that's what I said. My point was that although they brought them back, the performances were different. Cullen deepened Optimus' voice a lot because the movie version was much taller. And likewise Welker also developed a new Megatron voice. There's some good videos on YouTube where they go through the differences between G1, Bay, and Transformers: Prime, in terms of the characterisations.
My point was that, Martinet is also probably talented enough to do the same with Mario. If the voice he uses in the game doesn't work for whatever reason (if it doesn't work for full sentences or becomes annoying), he can adapt it or create a new version that does work but still has the DNA of his original version.
That borderlands movie is going to fail so hard. The only reason I even own 3 is because it was 10 dollars and series x enhanced haha.
knucklesohno.mp4
@FluffiestP1llow yeah...
@ModdedInkling yeah, thats what I was thinking. A Mario Movie without the original Mario voice... for almost 36 years!
@abe_hikura yes
Let Charles do the voice. He is Mario. Period.
@reporterdavid 25, he joined for mario 64
@doctorhino Allright. Well, he also does Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Toadsworth (maby not in the movie, maby he is...) . Anyway. Thats at least 6 characters. That means you dont only have to find another Mario (1), but also another Luigi (2), another Wario (3) and Waluigi (4). And yes, they have to be dubbed as well in other country's and continents.
I think all Charles has to prove to retain the voice of Mario for Illumination Pictures' film is can he carry on a full conversation using the Mario voice and can he make that sound really good? A lot of what we've gotten out of Charles for Mario in the video games are one liners and reactionary vocal material. So again, if he can prove he can carry on a full conversation in the Mario voice and make it sound really good, he's a lock for the role. Out!
This should be already a part of the production, unless they aren’t even at this point to involve any voice acting. Which then means the movie will be postponed.
They probably get Danny DeVito! lol jokes aside.
Don’t want to question anybody’s talent but since we haven’t heard any normal length dialogue from Charles Martinet as Mario. Can this be done? I say he’ll yeah with the right director and attitude.
But again they will probably find someone that will fit the part. Be cool to hear Charles Martinet.
@reporterdavid I can't imagine a movie letting one guy do the voice for all the characters, just seems like a production nightmare if anything happened with him
@RareAir23 watch on the internet. He can! I saw it on the nintendo world store. He is able to talk with people.
@reporterdavid Okay. So most of Charles' case is already made for him as there is video recorded of him carrying on full conversations as Mario. Now we go to the next question: Does Nintendo and Illumination know that he can do this? All Charles then really has to do to get the role is collect all this video of him carrying on conversations as Mario, share it with Nintendo and Illumination and say after they view it, "I'm your guy!" After, then he's a lock to me. They don't cast him after that? It would be a miscarriage of justice. Out!
@RareAir23 Does Charles have to prove himself after almost 25 years of being the voice of Mario? I know he can do it, he did in on instagramposts and he also spoke to people live at the Nintendo world store (whole conversations). Nintendo must know mr Martinet can do it, Mr Miyamoto know Charles voice offcourse. There is plenty of footage of him doing long lines out there. for me there is no exuse.
Movies need stars, and I wouldn't put it past Illumination to snub Martinet. Now, that move is still *****. We all know what Mario sounds like, and it would be distracting to do a recast.
...shouldn’t they have voice actors by now?
He hasn’t been invited yet? I’m surprised.
I feel like it's not a good sign that this movie is supposedly coming out next year and we still know nothing about it.
Honestly I’d be less likely to go if Martinet voiced Mario. Yes, he’s iconic and I wouldn’t want anyone else for the games, but as others said, his Mario voice for 90 minutes would get grating. It’s a great voice for one liners. Full conversations... eh...
Mario will be surrounded by talking characters, but he usually has so little to say. Mario will sound like he has for twenty years. Mariokart, Mario 3D World, Mario vs Donkey Kong, Smash Bros. It'll be Martinet, or a pro copycat like Alan Tudyk.
@ImagineerNik
Doug Bowser for Bowser! He was born for it! 😆
I'm just playing Luigi's Mansion and somehow in the Intro it feels like Mario had some mental disability. You can't just always in every situation throw a line like "Oh" "Let's Go" or "Oh No"
...
or can you?
will have to try that out on my choleric boss in the next videocall
The comments section just blasted Nintendo for no basis again huh?
Even if he was the obvious choice I think we don't have the right to attack anything or anyone because (1) No concrete details yet (2) We don't know if casting was already being done (3) There's a possibility that Nintendo gave the authority to Illumination to cast anybody they want but who really knows?
I want it to be Charles too. But seeing we literally don't have anything yet from the Movie ya'll are being brats at this point. Knock on wood but sooner or later somebody else will take the reins. Charles voiced Mario on almost everything but that doesn't mean nobody is allowed to try their chance on the iconic plumber.
That said IMHO just as long as they do the character justice, any actor would be "fine". I loved Ben Schwartz' Sonic and I loved Ryan Reynolds' Pikachu (although Ikue Ootani still reprised her role in the latter scenes).
Serious question though: I love Charles' take on Mario in general, but could you actually listen to him voicing Mario (with that high pitched voice) all throughout the Movie? If I'm being honest I'm not totally sure if it'll sit right with me. It's okay for the occasional woohoo or Mario grunts, jumps, attacked, etc. in games. But whole dialogues for an hour and a half film? That really got me wondering...
I still feel we are missing another point here, it's not all about if Martinet can do the voice for a full movie, it's also about how the Studio wants to market the project, a big star doing the voice can help the movies sales, I am not sure the masses would even know who Martinet is.
Hmmm what? I thought Martinet died a few years ago. Mandela effect...
I genuinely just assumed this was a done deal. I know he's never voiced in a feature film, but at this point to hear any other voice coming out of modern Mario would be jarring. (Admittedly I do have a soft spot for the Brooklyn Mario of the old cartoons before Martinet came along, but there is no way they'd go with a voice like that for the movie these days.)
@Tempestryke What! His mario is Mario! there cant be any other way. How is it grating? Is this a troll post lol
It better be Martinet or the movie will suck and I wont see it. I have been playing mario all my life there is no other game series as good as Mario. Every game that has a voice for Mario its been Martinet. That would be the biggest slap in the face for fans if they didint have him.
Yes please!
I would love that!
Mario without Charles Martinet is kinda like Spongebob without Tom Kenny. I guess it all depends on how much mario will talk in the movie but I couldn't think of a more iconic voice. Knowing that miyamoto is a co-producer gives me at least some sort of hope that it could be decent.
2 possibilities: He's somewhat old and Nintendo want a younger guy to future proof themselves for any more movies or Mario will just have reused sound bytes like plenty of other Mario games. Or even 3 they go the Link route and have no dialogue for Mario.
@johnvboy They could just advertise the movie as featuring the original voice of Mario
@Scollurio You may have been thinking of Lou Albano? He died a while back.
@Tempestryke Aaah! Probably. Yes.
@sirmrguitardude,
Not sure that is a massive draw to the masses.
With Nintendo being so involved in the development of the movie and Miyamoto being the co-producer, I highly doubt they will leave Charles (or Peach's VA) out of the movie.
But I suppose there's always a chance they could surprise us...
It better be Queen Latifah doing Mario's voice or no sale Nintendo!!!?!?!?!?!?!!!
I blame Reggie, Doug Bowser etc...joycon drift...
It's not the same without Charles.
They're going to make Mario sound like Bob Hoskins, aren't they?
@Zeldafan79 No, his first work was voicing an interactive image of Mario for trade shows around 1990, and then they used him for the game "Mario's Fun With Numbers", also known as "Mario's FUNdamentals". By that time, development was already underway for the N64, so they hired Charles to voice Mario for "Super Mario 64", and the rest is history.
this would be cool
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