But it’s been 22 years now, and with a new deal at Universal Studios bringing Nintendo characters to life in a new theme park environment, the company might be turning over a new leaf when it comes to expanding the media reach of their most treasured characters to create some Nintendo movies.
Nintendo’s new stance on film adaptations came buried in a June report on the company’s earnings (via Fortune) where the company said, “For Nintendo IP, a more active ach will be taken in areas outside the video game business, including visual content production and character merchandising.”There have been hints of Nintendo heading into movies and television before with a Legend of Zelda series reported to be in development at Netflix, even though that was denied by the video game company. But over the years, Nintendo has still made it to the big screen with Bowser in Wreck-It Ralph, Donkey Kong in Pixels (and almost a Super Mario credits scene too) and more.
But even with those cameos, it’s not enough to satiate fans’ appetite for seeing movies based on games like Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Kirby, Donkey Kong and maybe even a proper Super Mario Bros. movie. It’s early days on seeing any Nintendo movies come to fruition, but this is at least a step in the right direction.