Nintendo Are Getting A Movie On

So, Nintendo are seriously looking into filums [sic] now.  While we probably won't see the end product for a while, that's plenty of time to speculate about what the films will bring.  And by "speculate" I mainly mean "hope wildly".

(I've given my views elsewhere on the "Nintyfilm" idea in general: namely, that while I don't object to the idea itself, every piece of internal resource it takes away from games and consoles is a piece of internal resource badly spent.  But since it's going to happen, I may as well say what I hope they do with that resource.)


I actually really liked the anime-like StarFox: The Battle Begins short (screenshot above), and kind of enjoyed the Animal Crossing film.  If Nintendo go down that route, that's what I'd mostly hope for: animes and stuff.  Not live-action for the most part (although a Zelda live-action film could work if handled with kid gloves).

But what really got me excited was something on the Podquisition podcast: somebody made an offhand mention of "Nintendo's equivalent of the Marvel Universe".  You know what that would mean?  A Mario film, a Zelda film, a Metroid film - and then a massive Smash Bros. film afterwards.  That, my friends, would be the proverbial dung.


So, what Nintendo franchises would you like to see "movied"?  How?  And which ones do you think they'll actually go for?  (After the Tetris trilogy was announced, I can't wait for Pullblox: the Movie to hit our screens.)

I've been thinking about this. Nintendo don't have many IP's that strike me as immediately filmic: Fire Emblem, perhaps; Advance Wars, maybe... Code Name S.T.E.A.M.? As much as people go "Metroid!" and "Zelda!", how would that actually work as a film? I just don't know.

As for what I'd like to see get the movie treatment, a CGI Mario would be nice, almost purely to get rid of the taste of the most recent SMB flick. A Kid Icarus animated film could well be quite splendid. The most likely thing to happen is a Zelda film, I'd say.

Zelda would be a bit guff on the silver screen, I reckon. Hollywood would make into a generic fantasy flick complete with a CGI-laden battle between Hyrule and the moblins at the end.

Metroid could work - start with a flashback scene of Samus's homeworld being ravaged by Ridley. Flash forward to Samus being a certified space badass exploring an abandoned facility. Have her bump into some Galactic Federation troopers who steadily get picked off by Ridley and/or some Metroids before Samus has a showdown with Ridley at the end. Throw Adam in over radio contact for some banter. Make it like Aliens, basically. It'll work.

Nah, the best one would be Chibi-Robo. The USP is that the story focuses on Cheebo talking to the various toys in the house. Who would've thought the toys had souls? Then they can oh wait Toy Story nevermind

I wouldn't mind seeing some Fire Emblem movies ("of course you wouldn't Athrun!" goes everyone internally) since it could make a good fantasy epic. Bit of a game of thrones potential there with the nature of almost the entire cast usually being expendable, and when not expendable, at least able to be injured severally.

Course going for that approach would probably be off the table for Ninty as they do so like their kid market.

Honestly I can't say I see how this is going to work, most of their series don't exactly lend themselves to films, and those that do don't lend themselves to the type of film Nintendo is likely to make. Can't say I really see this working out, but we'll see what Nintendo throws together before we start Nintendoomed on this front.