Illumination is no stranger to producing animated hits, but the A-List cast the studio behind the Minions franchise has assembled for The Super Mario Bros. Movie has proved to be surprisingly divisive.
Chris Pratt has been at the centre of most of that backlash, but there's been a similar level of unhappiness about Seth Rogen playing Donkey Kong. Based on what we've heard in the trailers, the actor has done nothing to change how he sounds and that means we're getting Kong by way of Rogen.
Without seeing the movie, we can't say how well that will or won't work, but a recent interview with ComicBook.com saw the actor explain his approach to the video game icon.
"I was very clear, I don't do voices. And if you want me to be in this movie, it's gonna sound like me and that's it," Rogen stated. "And that was the beginning and end of that conversation. I was like, 'If you want Donkey Kong to sound a lot like me, I'm your guy.'"
"But it did seem to work, you know, I think in the film and in the game I think all you really know about Donkey Kong is that he throws barrels and he does not like Mario very much," the actor continues. "That's honestly kind of what I ran with was this idea that he hates Mario, that they are kind have like an adversarial relationship, that he's annoyed by him, that he doesn't want to be stuck with him, that he wishes he was on this adventure without him."
"To me that was funny, and that was kind of the root of the character, and it was kind of born of the mythology of the games."
While he may not have been willing to change how he sounds to play Donkey Kong, Rogen certainly seems to have a great understanding and love of the character, so we'll see how this pans out next week.
From Nintendo and Illumination comes a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros.
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Jack Black as Bowser, as Toad, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is set to be released in theaters on April 5, 2023.