While The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a week away from its premiere, its cast is already envisioning a whole cinematic universe based on the best-selling game franchise. Seth Rogen, who lent his voice to the iconic video game character Donkey Kong, sees an opportunity to do spinoffs.
Fans were surprised when it was announced that Rogen would voice Donkey Kong in the upcoming movie. The villain-turned-antihero-turned-hero doesn’t speak much in video games and he is seen as a rival to Mario since their arcade debut in the 1980s.
Illumination shone the spotlight on the iconic gorilla in a recent trailer and Rogen believes that his character could star in a spinoff. The actor compares Donkey Kong to the Fast and Furious franchise, saying "it is all about family. "
"There’s a lot of opportunity there," Rogen said in an interview with Collider. "I think the family unit of the Kongs seems to be — and if the Fast and Furious movies have taught us anything [it’s] that it’s all about family."
The possibility of a spinoff
While it is still relatively early to talk about spinoffs, Rogen has teased the possibility of a Donkey Kong solo movie. Speaking with IGN, the actor says he is excited to do a spinoff, showing a great deal of enthusiasm for the character (or the attached paycheck).
"I mean, I can confirm that people keep telling me that they've heard there might be a spinoff," Rogen teased. "There's been no official [confirmation]. I think until the movie comes out and people get to see it and say what they say about it..." He adds, "But it's something I would be excited to do. I've had a really good time making the movie."
The actor sees a lot of opportunities considering a good number of Mario-related characters are featured in the film. Rogen also shared his fondness for the characters in the movie as he grew up knowing them.
"There's like several hundred games involving these characters, so I would imagine there's more than, like, 90 minutes of movie they could extract from them," Rogen explained. "There's dozens of worlds and stories. For me, I grew up with Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong and all this stuff, so I'm like very fond of it, and it's very fun to see it brought to life. So yeah, it's something that I would continue to do."
Mario actor Chris Pratt also echoes Rogen’s excitement for sequels and spinoffs. The Guardians of the Galaxy star teased that more movies are coming. "[This movie] mines this vein of sentiment from our childhood and meaning from our childhood," Pratt shared. "So get ready for a lot of these movies. And, thankfully, the movie really works."
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is premiering next week on April 5, 2023.
