'It's like having the secret to Coca-Cola': Illumination CEO attributes the success of the Super Mario movies to the 'inclusion of Miyamoto and the Nintendo artists'

The Super Mario Galaxy movie released to some shaky reviews; most critics have slammed the sequel for "having no centre", being only "a series of large, vaguely connected explosions", and simply "a way of gouging cash out of families."

But all the awful reviews of the sequel aside, CEO of Illumination Chris Meledandri is still gushing about the movie's somewhat invisible successes, and how great it was working with Nintendo and director Shigeru Miyamoto during an interview with Cherry the Geek TV: "The secret is being able to bring Miyamoto and the team into the center of the process." (via GamesRadar).

THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE world premiere interview- Producers Chris Meledandri & Shigeru Miyamoto - YouTube

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"And I'm not just complimenting Miyamoto because he's standing here," Meledandri adds. "Part of me doesn't want to give away this secret because it's like having the secret to Coca-Cola and then giving it away. The secret actually is the inclusion of Miyamoto and the Nintendo artists in the center of the filmmaking process."

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I'm not sure working with the original creators on an adaptation means it'll be better is much of a secret. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that any adaptation, whether it be film or TV, should always include some sort of expertise from the source material. But then again the Super Mario movies do tread new ground for Illumination.

"It's not something that we had ever done at Illumination," Meledandri says. "You know, we had made 10 movies at Illumination. We had made all of them completely inside the studio. So, this was the first time that we were going to work in a new way." Past movies include Despicable Me, The Secret Life of Pets, and Sing, all of which didn't have original source material to look back on.

The Super Mario Galaxy movie, like its predecessor, may not have done well initially, but that doesn't mean it won't break any records in the following weekends. The first Mario movie had an equally shaky start but then went on to earn over $1 billion worldwide, so it certainly wouldn't be surprising to see its sequel reach those heights, despite all the bad reviews.

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Elie is a news writer with an unhealthy love of horror games—even though their greatest fear is being chased. When they're not screaming or hiding, there's a good chance you'll find them testing their metal in metroidvanias or just admiring their Pokemon TCG collection. Elie has previously worked at TechRadar Gaming as a staff writer and studied at JOMEC in International Journalism and Documentaries – spending their free time filming short docs about Smash Bros. or any indie game that crossed their path.

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