The Super Mario animated movie has been delayed to Spring 2023

The Super Mario animated movie has been delayed to Spring 2023.

The news was confirmed today on the Nintendo of America Twitter account with a message written by Shigeru Miyamoto, who is co-producing the film with Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri.

“This is Miyamoto,” the message reads. “After consulting with Chris-san, my partner at Illumination on the Super Mario Bros film, we decided to move the global release to Spring 2023 – April 28 in Japan and April 7 in North America.

“My deepest apologies but I promise it will be well worth the wait.”

The film was supposed to be released in North America on December 21, meaning today’s news marks a four-month delay.

Nintendo revealed during a Nintendo Direct presentation last year that The Lego Movie and Jurassic World star Chris Pratt would be playing Mario in the upcoming CGI movie.

In addition to Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy (Queen’s Gambit) has been cast as Princess Peach, Charlie Day (Horrible Bosses) as Luigi and Jack Black as Bowser. Seth Rogen will also play Donkey Kong in the movie.

“Mario and Luigi are two of the most beloved heroes in all of popular culture, and we are honoured to have the unique opportunity to work closely with Shigeru Miyamoto and the widely imaginative team at Nintendo to bring these characters to life in an animated movie unlike any film Illumination has made to date,” co-producer Chris Meledandri said following the cast announcement.

Miyamoto added: “We are collaborating with Chris and his experienced team to not just create a character licensed film, but a new piece of entertainment which brings Super Mario Bros. to life on the screen, and allows everyone to enjoy whether or not they know about the game.

“The production so far is constructive and going very well, and both parties are learning a lot from each other. We humbly ask that fans wait just a little longer for the premiere, and we hope they look forward to seeing the unique characters from Super Mario Bros. on the big screen.”

In May 2020 a source close to Illumination told Deadline that progress on the movie was continuing smoothly despite the COVID-19 pandemic, because remote working had already been an established practice at the studio.