The Super Mario animated movie’s initial cast includes Chris Pratt as Mario

Nintendo has announced the main cast list for the upcoming Super Mario animated movie and confirmed a North American release of December 21, 2022.

Chris Pratt will play Mario in the Illumination-produced movie, as opposed to Mario’s usual voice actor Charles Martinet, Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto confirmed in a Nintendo Direct on Thursday.

Martinet will, however, have some cameo roles in the film.

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

The full cast list announced so far is as follows:

• Chris Pratt as Mario
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach
• Charlie Day as Luigi
• Jack Black as Bowser
• Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
• Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
• Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek
• Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike
• Surprise cameos from Charles Martinet

The Mario movie is being co-financed by Nintendo and Illumination. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!) are directing and the script is from The Lego Movie 2 writer Matthew Fogel.

“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,” said Illumination founder Chris Meledandri.

Shigeru 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.

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“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.”

Chris Meledandri, the American film producer and CEO of Illumination, was nominated as a new outside director of Nintendo in May 2021. Meledandri is currently producing the Super Mario movie alongside Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto.

Shuntaro Furukawa recently indicated that Nintendo is exploring the possibility of creating more animation content featuring its other game series.