Universal Pictures and Nintendo released the first teaser trailer for Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie on Thursday, revealing how Chris Pratt will sound as the most famous Italian plumber in the world. Surprisingly, most of the teaser focuses on Bowser arriving to ruin the day for penguins and their king. The movie hits theaters on April 7 in the U.S. and April 28 in Japan.
The teaser opens with the Koopas arriving outside the penguins’ home, with Bowser arriving and towering over the turtle soldiers. After Bowser walked up to the penguins’ castle, they tried to stop him by throwing snowballs and a giant ice block at him. Kamek, a magician Koopa (“Magikoopa”), moved the penguins out of the way so Bowser could use his fire breath to melt the penguins’ castle door. Bowser found what he was looking for inside the castle, a Super Star that grants temporary invincibility (at least in the Super Mario Bros. games).
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Following this, Mario finally came into the trailer. He found himself knocking about the tall mushrooms in the Mushroom Kingdom. When he tried to touch a blue one, Toad stops him and led him to Princess Peach’s castle. “Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!” Mario said as he hopped behind Toad. After the movie’s title and star-studded cast are listed, there is a brief scene of Luigi running from zombie Koopas, hinting at references to Luigi’s Mansion in the movie.
Aside from Pratt, the movie’s cast includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, and Jack Black as Bowser. Keegan-Michael Key is voicing Toad, while Seth Rogen is Donkey Kong. Fed Armisen is voicing Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco is Foreman Spike (the villain in the 1984 Wrecking Crew game). Kevin Michael Richardson is voicing Kamek. Charles Martinet, the beloved English voice of Mario, is expected to have an undisclosed role in the movie.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, with a script by Matthew Fogel. Horvath co-directed Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, which he also co-wrote with Jelenic. They also developed Teen Titans Go! together. The new film is the first Hollywood Super Mario Bros. movie since the 1993 filmย starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. It is also the first theatrically-released animated Super Mario movie since the 1986 Japanese film Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!.
Mario is not the only beloved character Pratt is voicing. In November 2021, he signed on to voice Garfield in a new movieย about the lasagna-loving cat. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters on May 24, 2024. Samuel L. Jackson, Hannah Waddingham, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Hoult, and Cecily Strong are also starring in the movie.
