This story contains potential spoilers for Illumination and Nintendo's upcoming Super Mario Bros. animated film.
Allegedly leaked plot details from the Chris Pratt-led Super Mario Bros. movie outline familiar story beats and locations from the ever-popular video game franchise.
In a Giant Bomb livestream, GamesBeat insider Jeff Grubb read out supposedly leaked information about the upcoming flick. The information appears to have originated from a post on the r/Mario subreddit, which the website subsequently removed due to a "copyright claim by a third party." The post compiled a wealth of information from several people who claimed to have attended test screenings for the film.
During the livestream, Grubb said he's confident the leaks are legit due to the fact that the Super Mario Bros. film's release date was recently delayed. He said it's possible the movie was indeed test screened and was received poorly by audiences, leading to the postponement. Nintendo producer and game director Shigeru Miyamoto said in November 2021 that the film was "pretty much done," and Charlie Day, who voices Luigi, said in January that he was hard at work recording lines.
According to the leak, the film's animation style is "cartoonish and full of life and color," similar in style to Hotel Transylvania. It's described as having a punny style of humor with plenty of meta references for fans of the games.
Since Pratt's casting as Mario was announced, fans have wondered whether the actor would adopt the character's iconic Italian accent. However, the post claimed Mario and Luigi both have Brooklyn accents in the film. Another surprising element is that the movie is supposedly a musical, with a "handful" of songs interspersed into the story. One song reportedly involves Bowser recalling his younger years, while another is said to revolve around plumbing. An ensemble song toward the end involves several characters -- Toads sing about saving Princess Peach, Mario and Luigi sing about "not losing hope," and Bowser and Peach argue "to the beat of the song."
The post also provided a rough outline of the Super Mario film's story. The movie is said to open with narration from original Mario voice actor Charles Martinet, who appears in animated form to recount Mario's backstory. The film then moves into the "present," where Mario is famous. While investigating some nefarious behavior between Kongs and Koopas in the sewers, he supposedly comes upon an "older, cranky" Donkey Kong, and they both fall through a pipe and end up in the Mushroom Kingdom. Bowser and Princess Peach are introduced, and Bowser subsequently kidnaps Peach.
At this point, a concerned Luigi is said to follow Mario into the sewers and down the pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom, where he lands in the middle of a forest and meets Yoshi. Meanwhile, Mario supposedly rushes into a fight with Bowser, who bests him and has him thrown into the forest. Reunited with Luigi and Yoshi, the three fight some wisecracking Bowser clones who turn into a "gross, indescribable combination of enemies" upon defeat. The team reaches Bowser and his cronies, and the final battle begins. Kamek and Yoshi are said to go head to head during the battle, and Kamek gives Bowser a mushroom, causing him to grow.
In the last leg of the battle, Bowser supposedly chases the brothers through a pipe maze, which filters through several locations from the games. Mario and Luigi trick Bowser into going into a pipe that leads to his own lava pit, where he appears to meet his end. In the aftermath, Mario decides to open his own plumbing business in the Mushroom Kingdom, and in a post-credits scene, Bowser emerges from the lava as Dry Bowser -- an undead and skeletal version of himself.
Whether or not these plot details are accurate, fans will find out for sure when the Super Mario Bros. animated film arrives in theaters on April 7, 2023.
Source: YouTube