Credit: Universal Pictures IlluminationOne of the biggest animated films this year was Universal Pictures and Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. Movie. The film broke records, setting a high competition for other animated films this year, like Sony Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Pixar’s Elemental, and Disney’s recently released Wish. One of the film’s stars, Jack Black, recently spoke out about the possibility of a sequel.
The Universal animated film made over $1.3 billion, making it the most successful video game adaptation of all time. The movie starred Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, and Jack Black as Bowser. Black even earned a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and calls for an Oscar nomination for his song “Peaches,” which has become a viral hit and led to Black performing the smash song with the Jonas Brothers on tour recently.
Last month, Inside the Magic reported that an updated bio list for NBCU chairman and Chief Content Officer Donna Langley seemed to confirm that the brothers would return for another adventure. Her bio states that she’s “led the motion picture group through the birth of new franchises, including…Illumination’s Super Mario Bros. Movie.” Although this could mean that Universal is planning an entire Mario Bros. franchise, Jack Black recently stated that it’s been nothing but “radio silence.”
Speaking to Variety, the comedy star said, “The only chatter has been coming from me, and I don’t even know if I’m allowed to chatter. I’ve been chomping at the bit to get back to business.” He later states that he would be interested to see a sequel focused on Bowser, “I think it should be a full musical, like what Todd Phillips is supposedly doing with Joker 2.”
Black is not only known for his animation voice work as Bowser, but also as the voice of Po in the Kung Fu Panda franchise. He’s also starred in several comedy films throughout his career, including School of Rock (2003), Goosebumps (2015), and the Jumanji (2017) films. In addition, Black has been one of the members of comedy rock duo Tenacious D since 1994, which has released a series of albums and has been featured in a variety of films and television episodes.
Despite Super Mario Bros. being one of the biggest films of the year, there clearly doesn’t seem to be a sequel or any upcoming projects currently in the works, or if there is, the cast doesn’t seem to be aware of it. Considering the large library of Super Mario games and characters to pull from, Universal has no lack of potential film ideas to adapt in the future. Especially with Jack Black’s clear enthusiasm for his character and excitement to reprise the role, hopefully fans will hear a confirmation or official update about the sequel or hinted franchise soon!
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