©Courtesy of Nintendo
It appears that Nintendo Studios LLC and Universal Pictures are planning to make a feature-length film based on the classic Donkey Kong video game. Over the past few months, the two studios jointly filed for copyright protection for the project—a routine procedure that does not necessarily guarantee the film will go into production, however.
No further details about casting or creative personnel have been released, though press reports suggest that Seth Rogan might be a possible candidate. He’d voiced a supporting character in The Super Mario Bros.Movie, which was released in 2023 and may appear in a sequel due for release in 2026.
Originally released in 1981, Donkey Kong helped Nintendo gain a foothold in the new video game realm. In June of this year, Nintendo’s president Shuntaro Furukawa teased investors by remarking: “although we cannot discuss our plans beyond The Legend of Zelda movie at this time, we are working on various other projects.”
Donkey Kong is already being enjoyed by visitors to the Super Nintendo World theme park in Osaka, Japan, where the classic game already has an exclusive area devoted to it. In addition, Nintendo is promoting Donkey Kong Bananza as the second exclusive product—after Mario Kart World—on the newly released Switch 2 console.
If the Donkey Kong movie does become a reality, it would be the fourth film in Nintendo’s effort to adapt its games to the big screen in addition to the two Mario Bros. films and a live-action adaptation of Legend of Zelda scheduled for 2027. Other major franchises for the studio include Animal Crossing, Kirby, Pokemon, and Super Smash Bros.
The Nintendo/Universal partnership on The Super Mario Bros. Movie is considered a great success, having earned more than $1 billion in revenues.
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