The Super Mario Bros. Movie is only a few months away and to help tide over fans that are eagerly awaiting the release of the feature film adaptation of the popular video game franchise, a new thirty-second teaser trailer has been released. In the clip, Mario faces another iconic character from the Nintendo stable, none other than Donkey Kong. The clip marks the first time fans can hear Seth Rogen's voice as Donkey Kong.
In the aforementioned clip, Chris Pratt's Mario is in a one-on-one smash 'em up fight with Rogen's Kong and let's just say, things don't end well for poor old Mario, despite the helpful addition of a power-up in the form of a cat costume. The fight ends with Rogen's bellowing laughter and a menacing message directed toward Mario; "Now you die." Whilst it is important to fans to see new footage ahead of a film's release, the significance here lies in the fact Rogen's Kong is heard for the first time. There's been much talk about whether Pratt's vocal delivery as Mario is good or bad, given it is a departure from the Italian accent found across Mario games, so each new character's voice reveal is of paramount importance.
In a feature trailer released late last year, fans were treated to voice reveals for Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Luigi (Charlie Day). As well as this, the likes of Jack Black's Bowser and Keegan-Michael Key's Toad have graced the world across promo trailers for fans to hear how each actor has brought their iconic characters to life. The names listed show that The Super Mario Bros. Movie will likely to be a hit, given that each Mario character has an iconic performer to help bring them to life.The film comes from Universal's Illumination studio, which has produced a hoard of animated hits such as Despicable Me and Sing. Universal has been enjoying success with its pandemic-era animated offerings, out-grossing Disney and Pixar's animated output across 2022, so there's hope that Rogen's Kong and Pratt's Mario can contribute to a box office success for the studio once again.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie graces North American cinemas on April 7, 2023, after releasing in several international markets prior. Belgium has the earliest release date announced thus far on March, 22, followed by France on March 29, Australia and New Zealand on March, 30, and UK audiences will get to experience the film on March 31. Check out the new teaser released today, below: