Nintendo Direct Coming Thursday, Focused On The Mario Movie

Nintendo has announced the next Nintendo Direct, and it's coming soon. The event will take place this Thursday, October 6, and it will be focused on the Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The first trailer for the movie will makes it debut, and presumably the broadcast will include other news and updates around the film. There will be no game announcements, however. The event begins at 1:05 PM PT / 4:05 PM ET. We already knew the first trailer for the film was coming this week during New York Comic Con.

As announced previously, the trailer will premiere on October 6 at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, with the Nintendo Direct event set to begin 5 minutes later.

The movie is produced by Illumination, the studio behind Minions and Despicable Me. It is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who previously collaborated on the animated Teen Titans Go films. The Lego Movie 2 and Minions: The Rise of Gru writer Matthew Fogel wrote the script for the movie, which is produced by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination's Chris Meledandri.

Nintendo's tweet includes what appears to be a first look at the Mario movie's art style. A poster image seems to suggest that Mario will embark on an epic adventure to reach the Mushroom Castle.

In addition Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario, the movie features an all-star cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.

The Mario movie was originally lined up for release in December this year before it was delayed to April 7, 2023. Pratt has said his Mario voice is "unlike anything you've ever heard."

Very little is known about the story, or any specifics at all. Charlie Day, who voices Luigi, confirmed in February this year that he had begun recording lines for the film, but he couldn't say much more.

"I'd love to tell you all about it, but they are top secret with this stuff. Absolutely, this is serious stuff," Day said. "I know nothing. I show up, and they're like, 'You say this and you say that.' And it's all very funny and good. And then I walk out and there's like two guys in overalls with hammers that are like, 'Don't you tell nobody nothing about this, Charlie. I swear to God we're gonna get your kneecaps, we're gonna break your neck.'"

A Donkey Kong spin-off might come next.