After the Mario movie, these Nintendo games should be adapted next

OPINION: This weekend, Nintendo fans everywhere will be heading to their local cinema to catch the long-awaited Super Mario Bros Movie. While the iconic pesky plumber makes the most sense as a starting point for Nintendo’s venture into the world of cinema, the company is sitting on an absolute gold mine of IP that could easily make the jump to the silver screen.

For 40 years, Nintendo has been putting out some of the most beloved video game franchises of all time, and now that Hollywood is looking to sink its teeth into adapting more videos games such as The Last of Us and now Super Mario Bros, we got to thinking about which of Nintendo’s backlog would be best suited for the big screen treatment.

With that in mind, we’ve whittled down our list to just four entries, but be sure to let us know on Twitter if you feel we’ve overlooked an obvious winner.

Luigi’s Mansion

Of all the hopefuls on this list, an adaptation of Luigi’s Mansion feels like the most likely as it could work as a spin-off to The Super Mario Bros Movie. Nintendo made an excellent choice in casting Charlie Day as Luigi, but it’s time to monopolise on his presence by giving Luigi his very-own feature film.

So that Luigi doesn’t spend the entire film by himself, Professor E Gadd could play more of an active role here and join Luigi on his quest through the film’s titular mansion, fighting off hordes of ghostly apparitions to try and save his brother. Pro tip: cast Michael Caine as Professor E Gadd and thank us later.

Metroid Dread

A cinematic adaptation of the Metroid series has long been in development hell but with the recent release of Metroid Dread, it feels as though the film has its best source of inspiration yet. After all, Metroid Dread takes on a far more cinematic tone than its predecessors, with plenty of gorgeous cutscenes that really emphasise the danger that Samus is in.

The inclusion of the EMMI robots that stalk Samus would help to establish an excellent homage to Aliens, but with plenty of firepower on Samus’ end to keep the film moving forward. Speaking of Samus, Margot Robbie feels like the most obvious choice here (if she can go from Barbie to Samus Aran then I don’t think anyone can match that kind of range).

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Yes, I know that everyone loves Breath of the Wild and everyone is just as excited to play Tears of the Kingdom, but The Wind Waker was the Zelda title that I grew up with and beyond my nostalgia, its overly animated art style already makes it a great candidate for an easy game-to-screen transition.

Plus, The Wind Waker’s narrative is already set up like something from a Pixar film as Link has to go on a great quest across the sea with a bunch of pirates to rescue his sister from a giant bird. The likes of Roman Griffin Davis or Jacob Tremblay could make for a good Link, but my gut says that the role should go to an unknown actor.

Splatoon

Nintendo’s most recent IP might be lacking in the narrative department, particularly against the likes of Metroid and Zelda, but its backdrop of a metropolis inhabited by squid-like children already makes it ideal for a family-friendly film. The main character could even start out as a lowly Salmon Runner with dreams of someday making it to the big city and proving themselves in the highly-esteemed Turf War battles.

Because of the many colourful inhabitants of Inkopolis, this film could easily have an ensemble cast but I’d love to see someone imposing like John Malkovich or Javier Bardem play the villain just to shake things up a bit.