Sony Hack Reveals Avi Arad Negotiating with Nintendo to Make Super Mario Bros Movie
If you recognize the name Avi Arad (the Spider-Man film franchise), it’s because he is a former (major) Marvel exec. Thanks to the Sony Hack, it appears that he is in negotiations with Nintendo to produce an animated Super Mario Bros. feature film for Sony Pictures. Want some proof? Via Buzzfeed:
“’I am the proud father of mario the animated film [sic],’ producer Avi Arad told Sony Studio Chief Amy Pascal in an email dated Oct. 23, 2014, with the subject line ‘Mario.’ Arad then forwarded Pascal separate images of him with Mario Bros. creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, the latter of which included the message, ‘Happy ceo, lets get together, it’s the mother load [sic].’ Pascal forwarded that email to Tom Rothman, who heads up Sony Pictures subsidiary TriStar Pictures. “Avi closed Mario brothers,” she said. ‘Animated.’ On Oct. 24, Arad sent an email to Sony Pictures Animation President of Production Michelle Raimo Kouyate thanking her for a congratulatory basket she sent him filled with Mario Bros. merchandise. ‘Thank you Avi!’ Kouyate responded. ‘Let’s build a Mario empire!’ Kouyate also sent a photo of the basket to Pascal, and said, ‘I can think of 3-4 movies right out of the gate on this. So huge!'”
Arad informed Buzzfeed that his negotiations with Nintendo “were just the beginning” and weren’t closed as the report claims.
Nintendo hasn’t said much but could another Mario Bros movie be in the works? Do you guys want to see one?
I was really excited about this until someone reminded me of the low quality movies that Sony has been making with their acquired IPs 😛
A 3D animated film could be a good thing, as long as has the same tone and style as the games.