Among the most recent batch of leaked Sony communications, this time shared by WikiLeaks, were a number of emails suggesting that Sony Pictures has aspired to develop a movie based on rival Nintendo’s crossover brawler, Super Smash Bros. With characters from across Nintendo’s beloved gaming franchises, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, and Kirby, Sony producing a Smash Bros. film would be a truly superhuman feat of IP-wrangling.
Two messages to former Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal referenced the series by name, Ars Technica reports. One email, from February 2014, refers to a meeting with producer Avi Arad, who had been “planning to meet with his Nintendo guy (who he has been courting for a couple of years) when he goes to Japan.” It also mentions a “full court press” with regards to the franchise. The second email, from Arad himself to Pascal in November 2014, is a link to a story about Nintendo’s Amiibo figures, referring to an “interesting bit on Smash Brothers.”
Other, vague references to the game can be inferred from other emails exchanged between Arad and Pascal, such as an allusion to Arad’s “five year chase” of trying to acquire the film rights to Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong. Arad also referenced an upcoming trip to Japan: “I am going to try and bring back a little plumber. I guess we can all use our pipes cleaned.” The results of that meeting would have implications for “our big, big project,” which could potentially be the Smash Bros. film.
There have been no official references to the project by either Sony or Nintendo, so its status is entirely unknown. Nintendo has been generally cagey about licensing the film rights to its properties, following the widely-derided failure of the 1993 Super Mario Brothers film. Prior to that, though, Nintendo does have some history with crossover media, with the late 80s/early 90s cartoon series Captain N: The Game Master, which featured characters from games like Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Castlevania.
Recently Nintendo rebuffed rumors that it is developing a Legend of Zelda TV series with Netflix, calling the reporting source inaccurate without completely denying the possibility of such a product. As for Smash Bros., Nintendo opened up polls for fans to suggest the next character to join the roster. Analysis of data hidden away in the game’s files also recently revealed that Street Fighter’s Ryu might soon be joining the game, which seems entirely feasible since developer Capcom already has its Mega Man in the game.
Would you like to see a Super Smash Bros. movie? If so, would you prefer it to be entirely animated, or some combination of live action and CGI?
