🍄 The Super Mario Bros. Movie broke box office records

Sascha: [00:00:03] I'm Sascha Kelly and welcome to The Dive, the podcast that asks, Who has said that business news needs to be all business? We love our controversial questions here at The Dive, so here's a good one to kick off this Friday. What's the best animated film ever made? For me, it's always going to be Toy Story. You cannot top it. But if you reframe the question as what's the most popular animated film of all time, you've got a myriad of options to choose from. There's Frozen, Finding Nemo, Aladdin, The Lion King, 19. But now there is one name that tops them all. The Super Mario Brothers movie, Let Go. It's not been a critical success. There've been some really scathing reviews, but that hasn't stopped the film being a juggernaut. It took in 377 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend in cinemas, and it broke the opening weekend record for two separate categories of films. And that's video game Adaptions beating Warcraft $210 million and animated films beating Frozen Two's $358 million. So now in 2023, two of the biggest hits on the screen are based on video game IP. That was the last of us. And now Mario. Nintendo, the owner of the Mario IP, is making a concerted effort to expand from just video games to all sorts of entertainment. They're modelling their next steps in the footsteps of another media giant, Disney. It's Friday, the 21st of April. And today I want to know what is Nintendo doing to further monetise its intellectual property? To talk about this today, I'm joined by probably one of the best equipped people in the office to talk about this, because I'm certainly not. It's Darcy Cordell. Darcy, welcome to The Dive. 

Darcy: [00:02:12] Thanks, Sascha. I did grow up playing Gameboy, Nintendo games all my childhood Pokémon. Super Mario Brothers. I love it. 

Sascha: [00:02:19] Yeah, it's such a nostalgia hit, isn't it? Look, the film has broken all sorts of records and it will certainly become one of the most successful video game adoption movie releases of all time. But despite that, critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given a pretty scathing review. It's got an average score of 56%, yet the audience score is 96%. Darcy, tell me, why is there such a big discrepancy? And are you one of the audience members who's given it ten out of ten?

Darcy: [00:02:51] Yeah, you said it yourself, Sascha. Mario Brothers. It brings so much nostalgia with it. Since the game was released in 1983 by Nintendo. There's been a whole generation of people like me born around then until the early 2000s who grew up either playing the game or being aware of it. Exit polls at the cinemas in the US showed that 59% of the audience was male and 45% of those were between 18 and 34 years old. So it's iconic with this relatively young audience, and that becomes even more obvious when you look at the presence the film has had on social media. I know my Twitter and TikTok have been blowing out with hashtags like Super Mario Movie and Super Mario Brothers, and those hashtags have actually accumulated nearly 4 billion views. Viewers have also gathered on Reddit. Mario Subreddit has a community of over 130,000 people and Nintendo's subreddit over 2 million people. 

Sascha: [00:03:45] Honestly, the numbers that come out of Internet communities just astound me. But 2023 has been a great one for the video game industry because I also mentioned Sony PlayStations. The Last of US was adapted to an HBO miniseries and became Max's most watched show ever. In Europe and Latin America, beating my favourite House of the Dragon in total viewers. Is this success something that we can expect to continue moving forward? 

Darcy: [00:04:14] It could definitely be the start of something. If you remember in 2008, when Marvel released Iron Man and the Christopher Nolan directed The Dark Knight, they kind of began this eventual superhero movie, Deluge. There never seems to be a superhero movie every couple of months, and analysts think we could be at the start of something similar for video game adaptations. 

Sascha: [00:04:36] You're so right, because in the nineties, Batman kind of had that, like almost cringeworthy, campy quality when you think of, you know, the Tim Burton version and George Clooney with the nipples on his suit. And then it became like a really serious cinematic experience. And so this is notable because Hollywood has had kind of the equivalent with a video game curse. 

Darcy: [00:04:58] Yeah. For decades there's been this video game curse where attempts to adapt video games to film have usually been failures with both audience and critics. And that curse actually began with the first ever movie based on a video game. Can you guess what that was, Sascha? 

Sascha: [00:05:15] All I can think of is Tetris. But I know that's a really recent movie, so I'm totally wrong. I have no idea. Tell me what, put me out of my misery, Darcy. 

Darcy: [00:05:22] So it's actually the original Super Mario Brothers movie. 

Sascha: [00:05:26] Oh, wow. 

Darcy: [00:05:28] And that lost $27 million. But now they're going again, and this one is going a lot better.

Sascha: [00:05:34] Yeah, well. Well, it seems like the second time has definitely had more positive results. Have there been any other big failures? I love hearing these kind of stories. 

Darcy: [00:05:42] Yeah, there are plenty of other failures. There's the Far Cry film released in 2008 that got a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and it lost $30 million. A more recent one was Netflix's is Resident Evil series, which was an absolute bust and cancelled after a season. It did earn $42 million worldwide, but the show is nearly unrecognisable from the game, which is all about zombies and bioterrorism. 

Sascha: [00:06:07] Interesting ones, one that I can visualise the game imagery in my mind. I had no idea that it was a Netflix series.

Darcy: [00:06:14] Then there's also Halo, one of the most popular games on Xbox for years that was adapted into a series on Paramount and it wasn't well-received by fans, although it did get quite solid viewership. 

Sascha: [00:06:25] I remember Halo, I never played it myself, but my brother I think, put hours and hours into that on the Xbox when we were growing up. Look, I think one of the key struggles is what makes a successful video game doesn't necessarily automatically translate to linear storytelling formats. I'm not a gamer. Mainly, I played the Sims and Lego Racer, but when you're mentioning those big masthead names, there's so much about the experience of being in the game and actually engaging with the storylines, like you're contributing to the direction of these characters.

Darcy: [00:07:01] That's right, Sascha And the success of The Last of US and the Super Mario Brothers Adaptions have shown that when done right, they can really be a big business. And it's not just those two that have had success. There's also the recent Sonic the Hedgehog films, which were pretty big box office hits like Why Are You Hiding Out In My Garage, The Angry Birds movie that brought in $280 million.

Sascha: [00:07:24] I cannot believe that was me.

Darcy: [00:07:30] And then Detective Pikachu, which is based on the Pikachu video game, brought in nearly $300 million. 

Sascha: [00:07:37] That's another one that really surprised me because Pikachu has such an iconic voice. And Ryan Reynolds was Pikachu. It just didn't feel like the right fit for me. 

Darcy: [00:07:47] Very bad, Sashca but I loved it. 

Sascha: [00:07:50] So random look. And there's plenty more in development. Obviously, these successes have started to show Hollywood that there is a way forward. So is the dam wall breaking for video game adoptions? Are we at the beginning of the S-curve?

Darcy: [00:08:05] There are dozens in the making, but it's probably a little too early to call that The curse is over. We've got Playstation's God of War, which is being produced for Amazon along with a film version of the saga, Genesis Brawler, Streets of Rage. There's a brand new live action Assassin's Creed series coming to Netflix. So there's plenty in the works. But again, we haven't seen enough had success to call this curse over. 

Sascha: [00:08:28] So Darcy, let's take a quick break. But when we get back, I want to zoom in on Nintendo, the company, and ask, is this going to be the next media powerhouse in the model of Disney? And we're going to play a game. Who is more valuable, Mickey Mouse or Pikachu? I'm going to answer that question after the break. Welcome back to The Dive. Well, when we were researching this topic, I had to reach out to my Nintendo expert and that is my brother. So I gave him a call for the characters that Nintendo owns. 

Sascha's Brother: [00:09:01] Well, I'm pretty sure Nintendo. Well, they definitely own Mario, for sure. 

Sascha: [00:09:05] Yeah, they're in Metroid Prime. 

Sascha's Brother: [00:09:07] Oh, and Kirby.

Sascha: [00:09:10] You're doing so niche. I was thinking Pokémon because you're obsessed with Pokémon.

Sascha's Brother: [00:09:13] Yet we pick and choose. 

Sascha: [00:09:15] So your prime Nintendo fanboy age, like when you were hit, when you were a kid, Pokémon and Mario would have been like, right in your wheelhouse. Would you go see Pokemon movies if they managed to do what Marvel has done with superhero franchises? 

Sascha's Brother: [00:09:32] I've got a lot of thoughts on Pokémon games. They're like some of the best games ever. Like the first few iterations, people will just buy the games no matter what. Like they're going to have to break some serious trust for them ever to not buy one game. 

Sascha: [00:09:47] They have to get it right. That's how you're feeling about it.

Sascha's Brother: [00:09:49] It depends how they did it. But if they were to market the game to my generation, I think it would go absolutely gangbusters. So yeah, they could do something like Marvel easily. They've got the in-built audience in like a cinematic sense with all the shows and everyone knows the lore fairly well. Like even up until like 30. And then they could also then do that through the games. Obviously, like the games almost sort of took it to the next step that the anime was okay, but it was a kids show. But the games were much more adult and much more intense. 

Sascha: [00:10:23] And so so. Darcy Does that all resonate with you? 

Darcy: [00:10:27] It certainly does. Your brother nailed it on the head. I will be buying Pokemon guidance for the rest of my life, no matter how old I am. I just have so much trust with me. 

Sascha: [00:10:37] It's so interesting because many analysts are just saying that they're going to capitalise on this trust and they're looking at the Mario movie as the start of imitating Disney's playbook. What does that actually mean? 

Darcy: [00:10:48] Well, Disney is one of the most renowned and loved businesses in the world, and that is largely thanks to it being the best at monetising its intellectual property. Sascha, name any Disney character for me. 

Sascha: [00:10:59] Yes, it does. This is what I'm made for. Can't name all the Pokemon. But you know, when you've got Disney, you've got all the princesses, you've got Belle, Ariel, Princess Jasmine, Snow White, Cinderella. Like, honestly, the list is endless. 

Darcy: [00:11:13] That's definitely more than one to give the amount of ways that they monetise those characters. There are comics, there are TV shows with many of those characters. There are movies, there are stage shows. They sell merch. They're everywhere at Disney's theme parks. And this applies to virtually all of their characters. They've even got Disney themed cruise ships and Disney on Us. 

Sascha: [00:11:35] So is Nintendo looking to do something similar? Like I'm just imagining Pokémon on Ice, like Bowser swinging around? 

Darcy: [00:11:43] Well, every content business looks in admiration to what Disney has done with their IP. And Nintendo does have very strong IP itself. As I've mentioned, I grew up with an unhealthy obsession with Pokemon and Nintendo owns that IP. They've got a Pokemon TV show which has been running since 1997. And that still goes today, although the main character, Ash Ketchum, has just retired after 26 years of trying to catch them all. 

Sascha: [00:12:13] Did he catch them all? 

Darcy: [00:12:15] I actually haven't seen the last episode as I walk later. But Nintendo also has Pokemon Go, which had a big phase back in 2016. There are films, so they're absolutely trying to do something similar to Disney and they are having success.

Sascha: [00:12:30] You didn't answer my question. There isn't necessarily Pokémon on Ice, but they certainly have branched out and done some different things with the IP. 

Darcy: [00:12:38] Yeah, absolutely. I want to play a bit of a game with you here. Sascha. Three of the biggest owners of IP in the world are Disney, Nintendo and Warner Brothers Discovery. I want you to pick which character you think is the most valuable, and we'll have three rounds. Okay? 

Sascha: [00:12:54] Okay. 

Darcy: [00:12:55] Nintendo's Pikachu versus Disney's Mickey Mouse. 

Sascha: [00:12:59] I would have said Mickey back in the day, but now definitely Pikachu. 

Darcy: [00:13:03] You're pretty right there. So Pikachu and the Pokémon franchise that has brought in over $100 billion revenue to Nintendo and Mickey Mouse. It's one character, but it has brought in over $80 billion itself pretty close. So it is pretty close. You could take either of those and you'd be able to. 

Sascha: [00:13:22] Get back both of them. 

Darcy: [00:13:24] Around two, Warner Brothers, Lola Bunny versus Nintendo's Mario. 

Sascha: [00:13:29] Like Mario, for sure. Right.

Darcy: [00:13:31] Yeah, you're right here. But the reason I chose Lola Bunny over Bugs Bunny, which I think is much more renown, was that Lola Bunny reportedly brings in more money than Bugs Bunny per year, and that's $16 million. 

Sascha: [00:13:43] Wow.

Darcy: [00:13:44] But Mario Sascha has brought in about $40 billion since he was created in 1981.

Sascha: [00:13:49] Exactly. I've seen so many Mario Halloween costumes. Never seen a Lola Bunny costume. 

Darcy: [00:13:55] All right. Final Round, Disney's Nemo versus Warner Brothers, Scooby Doo. 

Sascha: [00:14:00] That's really hard. I think I'm going to go with Scooby Doo just because he's been around longer. So there's going to be a longer run up of different opportunities for him to be sold. Nemo, a massive juggernaut, but only a recent kind of discovery. 

Darcy: [00:14:15] Good guess. But Nemo actually just takes the cake. 

Sascha: [00:14:19] Wow. Okay.

Darcy: [00:14:20] The Scooby Doo franchise is worth over $1,000,000,000, but the Finding Nemo film alone made $940 million for Disney, and it went over $1,000,000,000 when Finding Dory. The sequel was released in 2016. 

Sascha: [00:14:34] Yeah, and if that's just the films like The March must have been massive for those. Yeah. Pretty cute clown Fish doles out there, I think. 

Darcy: [00:14:42] Absolutely. So put them all together. Sascha, which of those three would you choose as a business? Disney, Warner Brothers or Nintendo? 

Sascha: [00:14:51] Look, I'm going to go with Disney. I don't think this is actually the question, but I'm just more attached to Disney. And there is Pixar's and they're a proven business model. There's a lot of runway there. 

Darcy: [00:15:01] Yeah, I think you're right there. Disney is the largest of them all by over $100 billion. And if you'd bought the stock when it first listed, you'd be up 6,000% all time. 

Sascha: [00:15:11] Wow. So maybe 6,000% in line for Nintendo. What is next for them now that we've seen Mario be a success at the box office? Are we going to see my pitch Bauza on Ice? Or another suggestion that came through the office, which I would actually seriously pay money for, is a Mario Cap theme park. How awesome would that be? 

Darcy: [00:15:31] So they already have Super Nintendo world in Japan, Hollywood, and they're opening others in Florida and Singapore in the next couple of years. Nintendo is also planning to open a museum called the Nintendo Gallery in Japan, which is going to exhibit their popular gaming products. But at the moment, video games do remain their core business. The Nintendo Switch platform and all that comes with it makes up about 90% of all Nintendo's revenue, but it is trying to reduce that reliance with its expansion of IP into things like this Super Mario Brothers movie and the growing number of Super Nintendo worlds, which we're going to have to visit. 

Sascha: [00:16:09] Yeah, Equity Mates team adventure. I think. 

Darcy: [00:16:11] Overall, Sascha, I think that's at the time of simply being a video game maker is ending. There's so much more you can do now and make it into if you get it right. 

Sascha: [00:16:20] If you get it right though. Darcy I think those are the magic words. There are a long line of failures and as you said, this video game curse isn't necessarily over yet, but still a fascinating episode. So glad to dig into that one with you today. Thanks so much for joining me. Thanks, Sascha. If you've enjoyed The Dive, there is one thing that you can do for us that makes all the difference is just open up your podcast player and give us a five star review. It actually makes all the difference in terms of getting our show in front of different ears. And as a small, independent media company, that's what we need more people listening to us. I'm Sascha Kelly. Until next time.