Well, Donkey Kong might be next
With Nintendo entering the film arena, anything can happen. A Zelda show that actually gets greenlit? A Mario cinematic universe? With enough money from Nintendo media projects, the publisher can start calling the shots in several mediums.
Miyamoto explains the situation in detail in a recent investor Q&A, providing their reasoning for the expansion into Nintendo media projects outside of the gaming arena:
“I have great expectations for the Super Mario CG-animated film. For decades, our approach has been to bring smiles to consumers by creating each product with great care. With visual content as well, we want to continue to create content that bring smiles to generations of consumers around the world. We recently announced the film release date because production is getting closer to completion.
Going forward, we want to actively utilize other IP as well. With visual content, people can experience Nintendo IP in a variety of places, so I think it’s good to have a lot of content that is accessible for people who do not have a dedicated game device. However, we want to continue to make each title with care, so I cannot talk about a specific number. We want to work diligently to build up a strong offering.”
So we already know that Donkey Kong might be the next IP that Nintendo and Illumination tackle after the Mario film. And you know what? All of the pieces line up. Seth Rogen is definitely down to do as many family movies as possible, and the whole “Donkey Kong family” formula is going to work perfectly in terms of serving a screwball comedy up on a silver platter for kids.
Oh, and guess what?! They already have the theme park designs ready to go.