Nintendo, the Japanese multinational videogame company, is in tie-up talks with multiple production companies throughout the world to enter the movie business. The gaming giant is in negotiations with movie-production companies to create films featuring some of its popular game characters.
According to an interview in Asahi Shimbun paper, Nintendo, CEO and president, Tatsumi Kimishima mentioned that the company needed to invest in video production and aimed to be successful on a global scale. Discussions appear to be in the early stages, but Kimishima wants films to be produced in five years from now.
Nintendo characters in movies is not a new ball game as the company has already allowed film companies to use its characters through licensing agreements in the past. Super Mario Bros., the 1993 live-action film was based on Nintendo’s popular character while the Pokemon franchise also contained the game characters which were then used in theatrical animated films.
When asked whether Nintendo would use Zelda or Mario in upcoming movies, Kimishima said, “We’d like to use IP that is popular with everyone. I can’t say ‘it’ll be Mario’ — just that we’ll do things that people will be familiar with.” Moreover this time, Nintendo would like to do things itself as much as possible, rather than just licensing out its content.
Nintendo does not have just Japan but the United States and the rest of the world market in mind, and is therefore looking at expanding its foot by imprinting an image of its characters through the movie business. The company is looking not just into movies, but also into selling projects on home video throughout the world.
