It's ah-me, Chris Pratt! To some general confusion, Star-Lord has been named the new voice of Mario in the upcoming animated movie adaptation, and the actor has posted a message celebrating the announcement.
"When I was a kid, I lived in Lake Stevens, Washington, and there's this coin-operated laundromat near my house, and it had Super Mario Bros., the original arcade game," Pratt says in a video posted to Instagram.
"Oh, I loved that game. I never had a quarter. I would steal them from the wishing well. That's wild! It just dawned on me right now: the quarter I stole out of the wishing well to play Super Mario Bros. has come true – that I get to be the voice of Mario. But I clearly stole someone else's wish. So, just waiting for that row of karma dominoes to come crashing down on me. But, as it is right now, it's a-me, Mario."
Sounding more Al Pacino than Italian plumber, Pratt adds: "That's not the voice, you'll have to wait to hear the voice, but we've been working hard at it, and I'm really excited to announce that I'm going to be the voice of that video game that I dreamed about playing as a kid. Dreams come true."
Pratt is not the only famous member of the new voice cast. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Charlie Day will portray Luigi, Jack Black is Bowser, The Queen's Gambit's Anya Taylor-Joy plays Peach, Key & Peele star Keegan-Michael Key is the voice of Toad, and Seth Rogen has been cast as Donkey Kong. Long-time Mario voice actor Charles Martinet will also be in the movie, though his role is unknown.
That's a lot of star power in the new Mario movie, coming to cinemas in 2022. Animation studio Illumination – best known for the Despicable Me movies – is working with Nintendo on the new project, so expect a playful feel to the whole thing. While we wait for Mario's big-screen adventure, be sure to check out the most exciting upcoming movies heading your way soon.
