Chris Pratt as Mario? Mamma mia… but hold on to your red seashells, because Chris Meledandri, producer of the Mario movie and CEO of Illumination, wants you to give it a 1-UP. During an interview with Animation Magazine, Meledandri assured Mario fans that Chris Pratt’s Mario voice wasn’t that bad. Honest.
“When people hear Chris Pratt’s performance, the criticism will evaporate, maybe not entirely – people like to voice their opinions, as they should.”
Although Pratt is not of Italian-American descent, Meledandri still believes he is the right man for the job.
“I’m not sure it’s the smartest defense,” he added. “But as someone of Italian-American descent, I feel like I can make this decision without worrying about offending Italians or Italian-Americans…I think it will be fine.”
Meledandri previously rushed to Pratt’s defense, saying he wouldn’t do an Italian accent in the film.
” We cover [that accent] in the film, so you’ll see we definitely acquiesce to that – but that’s not the tenor of the performance throughout the film.
Officially announced in September 2021, the next Mario movie will star Chris Pratt as our favorite Italian plumber, and it turned out to be quite a controversial casting choice.
Pratt quickly took to Instagram to assure fans that he’s “working hard” to get Mario’s voice perfect, explaining that the role is a “dream come true.”
How Pratt’s performance will measure up remains to be seen. There haven’t been any promotional materials for the movie yet, and our first look at the Mario movie is likely a while away.
Chris Pratt will play Mario in the upcoming film, alongside Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong.
Kevin Michael Richardson will voice Kamek, Fred Armisen will voice Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco will voice Foreman Spike. Longtime Mario actor Charles Martinet will also make an appearance in the film.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment reporter and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.