Illumination reveals secret to Mario's movie success

Illumination and Nintendo have a novel approach to video game movie adaptations: Actually involving the people who designed and made the games.

Looking closely at the most successful game movies and TV shows, we see a few common elements: Passion, dedication, and continuity. The adaptations that do best are the ones that pay close attention to the details of the source material, often involving original creators, designers, and game developers that have been involved for years to help lead the charge. The Fallout TV show is a prime example of this, but nothing stands higher than the Mario movies.

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At the Super Mario Galaxy movie premiere in Kyoto, Tokyo, Illumination boss Chris Meledandri explains that the secret to the Mario movie duo's success lies in Nintendo's unique ability to preserve its teams. It's all because of Illumination's close collaboration with Nintendo's creative minds, Meledandri says, many of which have been working on Mario franchises for decades.

"Many people would ask me how this happened, how we made a movie that is so enjoyable. There have been many adaptations of video games in the past that haven't worked as movies, what's the secret.

"Well, the secret is right here [Meledandri motions to Miyamoto]. The secret is being able to bring Miyamoto-san and the team into the center of the process. It's not something we have ever done at Illumination. We have made 10 movies at Illumination, we have made all of them completely inside the studio.

"So this was the first time that we were going to work in a new way, and it really is--I'm not just complimenting Miyamoto-san because he's standing here--I am honestly telling, part of me doesn't want to give away the secret because it's like having the secret to Coca-cola and giving it away.

"The secret actually is the inclusion of Miyamoto-san and Nintendo in the center of the filmmaking process."