Nintendo’s goal since the video game company appointed Tatsumi Kimishima as its new president has been to expand its IP and make it more global. One way Kimishima has begun doing this is by setting plans to make movies based on Nintendo properties again.
In an exclusive interview with Asahi Shimbun, Kimishima revealed that Nintendo has begun talks with multiple production companies to develop these films. Nintendo aims to strengthen its character franchise business and grow the number of people playing games.
The Japanese publication says that 3D animation of Super Mario Brothers and other popular games may be seen in a few years.
So how much power and input will Nintendo have in these movies? According to Asahi, right now Nintendo is just in talks with other companies to give them the rights to the characters in film for a fee.
However, before you bring up Nintendo’s past failures in film, Kimishima said "we [Nintendo] want to do as much as we can ourselves."
This is similar to the strategy adopted by Marvel Comics, which sold their movie rights to different companies before forming Marvel Studios and becoming the movie-making juggernaut they are today. Perhaps Nintendo working closely on these projects will avoid another live-action Mario Bros. flop.
Asahi reports that Nintendo aims to complete the first project in this new movie-making venture in two to three years, with home video projects also in the works and a global audience in mind.
Nintendo’s current strides to make its characters and IPs more recognizable started when the company entered the mobile gaming market with Miitomo , and continues with its upcoming Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem mobile games.
So what do you think of upcoming Nintendo movies? Which property do you want to see first? Let us know in the comments section below.
