With Martinet in this for a "fun cameo", I wouldn't be surprised if they are already going to the multiverse route with this Mario meeting the Mario from one of the games.
Cue conspiracy theory that Peach being "kidnapped" by Bowser and Mario "rescuing" her is secretly a metaphor for Mario's inability to cope with infidelity.
This is gonna flop hard, Mario should really not even talk besides a "yippie" or a "yahoo", or "I'ma tired"
An illumination film based on the Mario franchise will 110% make a huge amount of money. Their Minion movie made over a billion. No way this movie bombs. Not a chance.
My mind keeps going back to the fact that Mario is Italian and has always been, and to hear Pratt's voice coming out of Mario's mouth is going to be so fucking bewildering. EDIT: It has however, come to my attention that the long-time voice of Mario, Chris Martinet, is French, so what the fuck do I know.
A Japanese created character that lives in a fictional land called Mushroom Kingdom, rides on the back of a dinosaur, friends with a talking monkey, saves a princess from a giant turtle, has been voiced by a French man for decades, but happens to be an Italian plumber doesn’t seem like an “Italian story” to me, but what do I know lol
The main problem is Chris Pratt has such a generic Midwestern voice haha, which made sense for Lego movie but not Mario
I’d understand if they want to give Mario a different voice purely for more emotional range for the audience. If this is to be a franchise then Mario will have to show sadness, success, and determination. His over-the-top and stereotypical Italian accent from the games can’t deliver that. I’m much more interested in how Rogen will voice DK, though. Hearing DK actually speak with coherent sentences will put me on edge more so than Mario not having an Italian accent.
It'd be great if it was like a Professor Hulk type deal, where Donkey Kong turns out to be really sophisticated and spends his time listening to opera and classical music when he's not chucking barrels.