Last September, roughly four years after Illumination Entertainment’s Untitled Mario The film was announced to the public, the voice cast of the cartoon was revealed, with Chris Pratt leading the charge as the man himself, Mario!! We’re a little under a year away from hearing what Pratt will sound like as a popular Nintendo character, but this Guardians of the Galaxy star has commented more on his upcoming singing role, teasing how it will contrast with the voices we’ve heard in Mario-centric projects over the years.
It’s no secret that after Chris Pratt’s Mario casting was announced, many fans expressed their confusion as to why he was chosen for the role, and some even lobbied for Danny DeVito to voice the role instead. While speaking to Variety, Pratt opened up about how he put a lot of work into the Mario Filmmakers to figure out this “updated” Mario voice that says:
I worked very closely with the directors and tried a few things and ended up with something that I’m really proud of and can’t wait for people to see and hear. It’s an animated voiceover narration. It’s not a live action film. I will not wear a plumber’s suit that runs everywhere. I’m providing a voice for an animated character, and it’s updated and unlike anything you’ve heard before in the Mario world.
Chris Pratt’s comments come a few days after Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri said that Pratt “delivered as strong a performance” as Mario and that the film is “three quarters done.” Meledandri also said in November that unlike Charles Martinet’s version of Mario, which we’ve been hearing in games for decades, this theatrical version of the character won’t have an overdone Italian accent. Additionally, we remain in the dark as to what Pratt’s Mario will sound like, but according to the actor, it’ll be quite a unique take.
Mario will be the fifth animated character on Chris Pratt’s resume, with the actor previously voicing Emmet Brickowski The Lego Movie and its sequel, Barley Lightfoot in ContinueJake in an episode of The Batman and Cooper Daniels in a few episodes of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. He will be the second actor to play Mario in a feature film, with Bob Hoskins taking on the role in the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. Pratt is also on deck to voice Garfield in a fully animated film, following Bill Murray, who voiced the orange tabby in two live-action/animated hybrid films.
Chris Pratt will have joined Mario Movie starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess 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 Foreman Spike and Charles Martinet in undisclosed cameo roles. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, both of whom have collaborated Teen Titans go! to the moviesdirected the feature and Minions: The Rise of Gru‘s Matthew Fogel wrote the screenplay.
That Mario The film is now scheduled to be released on April 7, 2023. You can see Chris Pratt repeating Owen Grady right now Jurassic World Dominionand in two weeks he will be back in action as Star-Lord Thor: Love and Thunder. Scroll through our 2022 release schedule to see what other films are coming soon to theaters near you.