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21 years after the disastrous Super Mario Bros. live-action movie flopped at the box office, Sony Pictures is pursuing the video game property, with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 producer Avi Arad trying to secure the distribution rights from Nintendo. BuzzFeed initially reported that the producer had closed a deal for the movie rights, information which was obtained through emails leaked from the Sony hack, but Avi Arad responded in an email that negotiations with Nintendo are "just the beginning." In an October 23 email to Sony's Amy Pascal, Avi Arad stated, "I am the proud father of mario the animated film [sic]."

Amy Pascal later forwarded that email to Tom Rothman, who heads up Sony-based Tri-Star Pictures, stating that Avi Arad "closed" Mario Bros. and that it would be an animated feature. In another email, Amy Pascal suggested that Genndy Tartakovsky should direct the new Super Mario Bros. film, stating, "It's soooo perfect for him.

Stars: Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Samantha Mathis, Dennis Hopper, Fisher Stevens, Richard Edson, Fiona Shaw, Dana Kaminski, Mojo Nixon, Gianni Russo, Francesca P. Roberts, Lance Henriksen | Written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runte, Ed Solomon | Directed by Rocky Morton, Annabel Jankel

Let’s be honest, Super Mario Bros: The Movie is not a great movie. It’s not even a great video game adaptation. As a movie-loving teen the film was high on my must-see radar, so imagine my disappointment when I eventually saw the film on VHS… However since then I’ve come to appreciate the film for the bizarre Sf-tinged adventure movie that it is, rather than an adaptation of my all-time favourite video game franchise.

A critical and commercial failure on it’s original 1993 release, Super Mario Bros: The Movie has, in the intervening years, become something of a cult classic. So much so that the out-of-print DVD...