How the success of the Super Mario Bros. could benefit Nintendo

The success of the movie Super Mario Bros. gives a boost to Nintendo’s IP push

Since its release in North America and 70 international markets, including India over Easter weekend, The Super Mario Bros. became a smash hit, surpassing $508.7 million in ticket sales worldwide through Thursday, April 13. Not only is it the highest-grossing film of 2023 surpassing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania but also the highest-grossing release for an animated film ever, beating Disneys Frozen II. With a production budget of $100 million and a voice cast that includes Hollywood greats such as Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jack Black, the box office performance of the Universal produced film , Illumination and Nintendo surprised trade pundits.

Nintendo is doing this to increase the number of ways existing fans can interact with the Nintendo IP, but also to help a new generation easily experience the Nintendo IP through initiatives such as theme parks and movies. That’s one of the reasons the Mario movie itself is available in so many countries where Nintendo doesn’t really have a presence on the ground, says Daniel Ahmad, director of research and insights at Niko Partners.

Started as a hand-painted playing card company 130 years ago, Nintendo grew into a games company in the late 70s. In the 80s, Nintendo began to climb the ladder of success with the help from producer and coder Shigeru Miyamoto. He worked on Donkey Kong, a game that gave birth to the jump-and-run platform genre. Years later, Donkey Kong remains one of the most recognizable icons in video games. More importantly, Donkey Kong was the start of Nintendo’s development of its own intellectual property and characters.

A billboard depicting the Super Mario Bros. movie. can be seen in a New Delhi metro station. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

Over the years, Nintendo has created many iconic gaming characters, boasting a catalog of hugely popular franchises like Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Metroid, and Animal Crossing that spans multiple generations. Nintendo is now sitting on a treasure trove of lucrative IP addresses. For many, it’s Nintendo’s most important asset, and invaluable in many ways. For example, Pokémon is considered the highest-grossing media franchise in the world, ahead of Disneys Star Wars, Mickey Mouse, and even Marvel Universe at $110 billion. However, despite its characters having a high recall value, Nintendo has barely tried to venture outside of the video game business.

Ahmad thinks the outstanding opening of the Super Mario Bros. can help Nintendo increase the reach of its IP address globally, which ultimately helps the company convert new users to experience its characters on game consoles and traditional games.

From the beginning, Nintendo has built its reputation on bringing gaming experiences to families playing together. The generation that played games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Game Boy in the 90s are now parents, and this cycle continues with each new generation of the console. The emotional investment in Nintendo and its cult franchises has resulted in the sale of Super Marios tickets.

Nintendo may be a video game company, but Ahmad says Mario’s maker is more like Disney than Sony and Microsoft. Disney is considered a juggernaut in the movie business, but what sets it apart from the competition is its incredible bouquet of intellectual property (IP). Nintendo comes second in this space.

Original Nintendo IPs can be experienced on a Nintendo console like the Switch. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)

Nintendo knows how valuable its intellectual property is, especially in the landscape where there’s a race in Hollywood to turn video games into movies and web shows. Based on developer Naughty Dog’s hit video game, distributed by Sony, HBO’s nine-episode drama The Last of Us was an instant hit when it debuted in January, garnering rave reviews and the second highest ratings for a series premiere since 2010 with 4.7 million viewers on HBO and HBO Max.

The resounding success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie has given Nintendo more confidence to pursue its Hollywood ambitions, so much so that the company has created Nintendo Pictures, a new wholly-owned subsidiary that will focus on developing visual content using Nintendo IP. Although Nintendo hasn’t revealed what will come after the Super Mario Bros. movie, it’s likely the company will turn more of its IPs into movies and shows in the future.

Beyond the Movies

But movies are only part of Nintendo’s expansion into different entertainment businesses. In recent years, the secretive Japanese video game company has branched out into theme parks, another similarity to Disney. Earlier this year, he opened a Super Nintendo World theme park in Los Angeles in conjunction with Universal Studios. Two more theme parks, one in Orlando, Florida, and the other in Singapore, are in the works.

Nintendo is transforming itself into a strong games and entertainment company that mixes what Disney offers with what Sony and Microsoft offer, says Ahmad.

Nintendo may be a household name with its familiar characters and game consoles in developed markets such as the US and Europe, but the company has refrained from investing in a large market such as India. . Although the vast majority of Indian gamers are mobile or PC gamers, consoles accounted for only a tiny percent of the Indian games market. That being said, the way Sony markets its PlayStation 5 in India, Nintendo is at a disadvantage despite having signature IPs and a successful console like the Switch which is available unofficially through e-commerce platforms and the marketplace. gray.

The entire cast of The Super Mario Bros. Movie at the film premiere. (Image credit: Nintendo/Twitter)

There’s room for Nintendo to expand into some of those markets, and hopefully with film, theme parks, merchandise, and the next next-gen console whenever that happens, it there will be a lot more demand for their products globally, Ahmad replies when asked if Nintendo might change its strategy to focus more on markets like India in the future.

Although India may not be among the top performing markets for the Universal and Nintendo Illuminations video game adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. movie, the reception of the films has been quite positive in the country. We sold and we are delighted to see such support for the film, says Alok Tandon, co-CEO of PVR INOX indianexpress.com. The exhibitor sold 1.75 lakh tickets in its PVR and INOX cinemas, with the film being screened in 338 PVR INOX cinemas across the country.

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