An unexpected video game series could rival Illumination’s Minions franchise if it’s actually given The Super Mario Bros. Movie treatment — especially since it’s been stuck in production hell for years. There’s no denying that the animated feature-film landscape is changing. In Hollywood, Disney, DreamWorks, and Pixar are no longer the untouchable industry giants they were in decades past. Sony Pictures Animation, the studio responsible for the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse films, and Illumination, which boasts the ever-lucrative Despicable Me and Minions franchise, have leveled the playing field. This shift is incredibly apparent in the wake of 2023.
In fact, Illumination, in collaboration with Universal Studios and Nintendo, released one of the year’s biggest blockbuster movies, animated or otherwise. Based on Nintendo’s flagship, Koopa-stomping plumber franchise, The Super Mario Bros. Movie garnered a whopping $1.36 billion at the global box office. Despite drawing initial criticism for the actors chosen to voice its cast of iconic characters, Super Mario Bros. defied expectations in a huge way. There are few properties that can strike such gold, but one video game series stands out as a Super Mario Bros. successor — and a Minions competitor.
Rayman Raving Rabbids Borrows The Best Features Of Illumination’s Minions
Love them or hate them, Illumination’s Minions are everywhere. An undeniable facet of pop culture, the Minions first appeared as the henchmen of supervillain Gru in 2010’s Despicable Me. Since then, the characters have spawned their own spinoff films and unfathomable amounts of merchandise. In fact, the impressive gross of 2022’s Minions: The Rise of Gru was only surpassed by The Super Mario Bros. Movie — Illumination’s biggest release and the third highest-grossing animated film of all time. It’s hard to imagine a worthy successor to either property, let alone both, but Rayman Raving Rabbids seems most promising.
10 Lessons The Legend Of Zelda Movie Can Learn From Super Mario Bros.
From easter eggs to a good voice over cast, The Legend of Zelda movie can learn a lot from The Super Mario Bros. movie while still in development.v
A spinoff of Ubisoft’s ’90s platformer Rayman, the Raving Rabbids franchise has become even more successful than its parent property. Despite being rabbit-like aliens, the titular Rabbids are a lot like the Minions: they’re comedic, mischievous, and loud. Since the initial release of the 2006 Wii party game Rayman Raving Rabbids, the titular creatures have gone viral, pushing Ubisoft to drop “Rayman” from the titles of future games. The Rabbids have even starred alongside Mario. While Ubisoft did create Rabbids Invasion, a four-season Netflix TV series, the characters have yet to make the jump to the big screen.
The Rabbids Movie Is Already In Production (& Has A Lot Of Potential)
Rabbids Invasion aired on Netflix from 2014 to 2018, and was followed by a 2021 special, Mission to Mars. That said, although a Rabbids movie hasn’t come to fruition yet, an adaptation has been in the works for a decade. In 2014, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation began collaborating on an adaptation of the series. In 2019, the would-be film took a new turn when Ubisoft and Lionsgate announced a new partnership around the Rabbids movie. In April 2022, an animation test was leaked on Vimeo; in it, two CGI Rabbids interact with a live-action environment.
Mario’s Rabbids Gun Predicted Chris Pratt’s Casting
It appears the casting of Chris Pratt in next year’s Super Mario film might have been hinted at by Mario + Rabbids well before the Nintendo Direct.
The Rabbids movie still holds a lot of potential, especially in the wake of The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s success. Illumination and Nintendo’s collaboration has proven that video game-to-screen adaptations have tons of financial potential. Like the Mario franchise, Rabbids has a lot of fun worlds and characters to pull from, but it’s also more malleable. Not to mention, the Rabbids have Minion-like potential, both in their ability to delight kids of all ages and pull off chaotic, comedic hijinks. That said, a Rabbids movie can combine the most successful aspects of both Illumination franchises.
