In a recent stream hosted by games journalist Jeff Gerstmann, he revealed that the full length for The Super Mario Bros Movie may not even amount to a 90 minute runtime. Other details revealed by Gerstmann include an anticipated release date for home media and streaming, and for those who care about it: airline premieres.
The Super Mario Bros Movie is still a few months away with an expected April 7 release date, but a brand new trailer has generated another buzz of discussion. According to Gerstmann, he’s seen “internal data” which indicates the movie will only be 86 minutes long. A movie shorter than 90 minutes might cause some fans to balk, after all we’ve been waiting for a new (and hopefully canon!) Super Mario movie since Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo put on the iconic overalls in 1993’s Super Mario Bros.
It’s worth keeping in mind that approximately 90 minutes is about part for the course for a an all ages movie. Aladdin was 90 minutes, The Rescuers Down Under was only 77 minutes, and even Beauty and the Beast managed to tell it’s whole story in 84 minutes. It’s important to remember that while Mario has fans of all ages who have been waiting for a movie, “all ages” means kids too. Yes, adult fans will want more character development, more background details, more worldbuilding; but we need to remember that Nintendo is taking a huge chance with this movie and it needs to appeal to more than just nostalgic fans. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, you can see plenty of fanservice in the new trailer, including a traditional Mario stage that appears to be an obstacle course for helping Mario train for his fight with Bowser.
Other little tidbits of information from the stream include the suspected date for physical media such as Blu-Ray which is May 11, only a little over a month after the theatrical release. Airlines will also begin showing the movie on flights beginning on July 1. It’s important to note that all of this information is subject to change, internal decisions and documents change with relative frequency throughout a movie’s production and so far the April 7 premiere date is the only officially confirmed date.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the latest trailer where we finally get to hear Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach; as well as our first look at Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong.