Mario Bros to enter big screen in movie deal with Universal's Illumination

Nintendo franchise has long been tempting to Hollywood, but videogame films have a poor record

Mario and Luigi are heading to the big screen in one of the highest-profile licensing deals by a Hollywood studio in years.

Illumination Entertainment, which makes animated films for Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, is close to an agreement with Nintendo to make an animated “Super Mario Bros.” movie based on the 32-year-old videogame series about a pair of sibling plumbers who fight evil turtles and mushrooms in a fantasy kingdom, said people with knowledge of the discussions.
 

Nintendo’s marquee characters have long been tempting to Hollywood, particularly now that the movie business is driven by globally popular franchise films featuring well