任天堂或将推出《超级玛丽》大电影

任天堂社长君岛达己本周一接受日媒《朝日新闻》采访时表示，任天堂打算在未来五年里通过某种方式涉足电影行业。美联社随后的一篇报道也印证了《朝日新闻》的这则消息。不过美联社的这篇报道还指出，任天堂并不会自己成立电影公司，而是会依靠现有的电影公司对其游戏作品进行改编。

任天堂以前也曾搞过游戏的影视改编，不过或许是由于采用了真人演员来扮演了游戏中的角色的缘故。几部改编作品的效果并不理想。这次任天堂吸取了教训，打算采用3D动画电影的方式来改编其游戏，也就是向皮克斯动画工作室（Pixar）学习。

由于近年务日趋低迷，在视频游戏之外开辟新的业务阵地，也就成了任天堂的一个自然而然的选择。2015财年，由于市场对其游戏硬件的需求日益疲软，任天堂的仅收入了1.48亿美元的盈利，较上年度猛跌61%。有鉴于此，任天堂也开始向智能手机游戏领域发展，但它旗下的一些最知名的游戏（比如《超级玛丽》等）目前还尚未移植到移动平台上。此外，任天堂还有发布新硬件的计划。这款硬件当前的代号为NX，预计将于明年上市，以提振其核心业务。

去年，任天堂旗下多个热门大作的操刀手、知名游戏开发者宫本茂曾经暗示称，任天堂“并不只想做一家游戏公司”。他在去年的一次采访中对《财富》表示，电影似乎是公司下一步的一个理想方向。他当时曾表示：“随着我们更开放地看待任天堂作为一家娱乐公司的角色，我们正开始越来越多地思考电影对于公司的意义——而且将来我们可能会认真考虑电影这一类的东西。”

现在，任天堂似乎觉得将游戏改编成电影是一个聪明的法子。虽然任天堂以前也曾授权将《口袋妖怪》等游戏改编成影视作品，但这回据说任天堂的态度十分积极，打算将一些影响力更大的角色搬上大银幕。不过至于这部作品究竟是3D版的《超级玛丽》大电影，还是3D版的《塞尔达传说》，目前我们还不得而知。

不过有一点是清楚的，那就是游戏改编的电影是很有可能拿到高票房的。就在本周一，热门手游《疯狂的小鸟》的制作公司Rovio宣布，其参与制作的同名动画长片《疯狂的小鸟》在欧洲上映仅仅一周，便拿到了4300万美元的票房。据该公司介绍，这部影片将在全球74个国家和地区公映，并且在其中的37个国家和地区已经战胜了同期上映的《美国队长3》。本周末，该片就将在中美等全球主要市场上映，这也将进一步抬高该片的总票房。

译者：朴成奎

Nintendo NTDOY 0.99% is eyeing ways to get into the film business at some point within the next five years, said Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima during an interview with Japanese publication Asahi on Monday. The comments were followed by an Associated Press report saying that Nintendo won’t become its own film studio and instead would rely upon film companies to take its characters to the silver screen, echoing the earlier report from Asahi.

Nintendo has tried the medium in the past, but the gaming giant has suffered several missteps by using humans to depict its characters. Nintendo is trying to learn from those mistakes by pushing for 3D-animated film, which would be more in the vein of Pixar films.

The concept is part of a broader push by Nintendo to expand its ailing business outside of just video games. The Japanese company, which saw its profit plummet by 61% year-over-year to $148 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, has been suffering from weakening demand for its hardware. In response, Nintendo has ventured into smartphones, though it hasn’t committed its biggest characters, like Mario, to mobile devices. Nintendo also has plans to launch new hardware, currently codenamed NX, next year in the hopes of bolstering its core business.

Last year, famed game developer and creator of most of the company’s top franchises, Shigeru Miyamoto, hinted that Nintendo wants to become more than a gaming company. Indeed, he toldFortune in an interview last year that movies seemed like the ideal path forward for his company.

“As we look more broadly at what is Nintendo’s role as an entertainment company, we’re starting to think more and more about how movies can fit in with that—and we’ll potentially be looking at things like movies in the future,” Miyamoto said at the time.

Now, Nintendo seems convinced that getting into games could be a smart move. While the company has in the past licensed its own content, like Pokemon, Nintendo reportedly wants to take on a more active role if it were to move to the silver screen. Whether that means a 3D Mario film or another based on The Legend of Zelda franchise is coming, however, is unclear.

What is clear, though, is that games might play well in film. On Monday, Rovio, the company behind the wildly popular mobile-gaming franchise Angry Birds, announced that its first full-length feature film The Angry Birds Movie grossed $43 million in its opening weekend in Europe. The film premiered in 74 markets and, according to the company, was able to knock Captain America from the top spot in 37 of those markets. The film will premiere in key markets the U.S. and China, among others, this weekend, which should bolster its earnings.