As someone who forced his parents to go see the original Super Mario Bros. movie in the theater, I have always felt a bit of guilt inside over having a hand in keeping Nintendo away from the film industry. The SDP will be directly involved in overseeing any potential big-screen productions involving Nintendo IPs, as with Bowser’s cameo in Disney’s 2012 animated film Wreck-It Ralph. You know, because this worked out so well last time. When not gaming, he’s probably running cross country or writing.
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This statement comes from Nintendo’s not-so glorious history in Hollywood, which gives it more sense why the company is very careful in any possible partnership for a film adaptation. “People’s natural expectation is we want to take our games and turn them into movies”, Miyamoto explained. The best news for Nintendo fans is that that relationship will be leaded by Nintendo’s Software Planning & Development (SPD) Division, the team run by the company’s creative mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto. Success in this realm could see a return to direct adaptation of Nintendo properties, but for the time being it does not seem like it will happen for a long while.
Previously, during this year’s E3 2015, Miyamoto told Fortune that he believes that movies and games are quite different, stating that games are more “interactive mediums” while movies are “passive medium”, thus debunking the previous connotations that both are nearly similar mediums.
He also debunked rumors of Netflix developing a live-action series based on The Legend of Zelda. Just think about flops like Pixels or Doom as examples of awful video game movies.
However, in spite of the discouraging records, Nintendo has hinted that they might broaden the spectrum of entertainment and will be “potentially” looking toward the movie business in the future, according to Miyamoto.
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I suspect that whenever Nintendo is ready to pursue its next film, studios will be clamoring to collaborate with them.
