After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 live-action Mario film, Nintendo became reluctant to license one of its intellectual properties for film adaptations. Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto became interested in developing another film when Nintendo was bringing its older games to the Virtual Console service, and through Nintendo's work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create Super Nintendo World, he met Illumination founder Chris Meledandri. By 2016, the two were discussing a Mario film and, in January 2018, Nintendo announced that it would collaborate with Illumination and Universal to produce it. Production was underway by 2020, and the cast was announced in September 2021.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was theatrically released in the United States on April 5, 2023. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and has grossed $420 million worldwide, making it the fourth-highest grossing film of 2023, setting several box office records, including the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and domestic debut for a film based on a video game. [/nd]