Report: Leaked emails show Sony Pictures got the Mario film rights; producer denies the deal has closed

The recent hack to Sony Pictures has unveiled some interesting news, but none of them are as interesting and unusual as this one about Nintendo, Avi Arad, and the film company.

According to a post on Buzzfeed, it seems like film producer Avi Arad had closed a deal with Nintendo for the animated film rights of Super Mario Bros.

Among the info retrieved by hackers, Arad expressed his feelings in an email with the subject “Mario” sent to Sony studio chief Amy Pascal. The email says “I am the proud father of mario the animated film [sic].”

He then forwarded Pascal separated photos of him and Shigeru Miyamoto, along with the message “Happy ceo, lets get together, it’s the mother load. [sic]”

What is most striking about this situation is the unusual relationship between a film producer who works for Sony Pictures and Nintendo. Sony Computer Entertainment, a sister division of Sony Pictures, is a competitor of Nintendo in the video game business.

In an October 24 email sent to Sony Pictures Animation’s Michelle Raimo Kouyate, Arad thanks Kouyate for a basket she sent to him filled with Mario stuff. Kouyate replied with “Let’s build a Mario Empire!”

However, the Buzzfeed post was updated later stating “Arad has denied that the deal has closed.” The talks seem to be still in the early stages between Arad and Nintendo. Arad is one of the three producers on the Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures cartoon and has worked since the 1990s as a film producer in many Marvel movies.

Though most people may remember the mixed reviews of the 1993 live-action version of the Mario Bros. film, it would not be the first time people got  to see an animated film. A Mario anime was released only in Japan in 1986 titled “Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen!” Still, Nintendo’s Miyamoto has not been in favor of giving the film rights of SMB to any Hollywood film company.

Whatever the outcome may be, whatever it has really happened, it has been already a long time since fans of Mario Bros. have seen the duo in the big screen.

[Source]: Buzzfeed: Sony Pictures Lands “Mario Bros.” Movie Rights From Nintendo, Leaked Emails Show. UPDATE: Arad has denied that the deal has closed.