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This 436-Page Super Mario World Movie Script "Sucks," Screenwriter Admits

Chronicle writer Max Landis publishes what he calls a "manifesto" that's not very good.

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When he was 19, Chronicle writer Max Landis wrote a script for a Super Mario World movie. He has now published that script, which he freely admits "sucks" for a multitude of reasons.

It's an epic, 436-page script featuring characters such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Daisy and many others that Landis describes as more of a "manifesto" than a movie. Its super-long length was one of the many problems with it. "There has never been a produced film in America with a length of 436 pages," he said.

Other issues that Landis admits to involve poor tone and pacing, dialogue that is "just actually corny or bad," and problems with coherency and action. "Looking back, there is nothing to elevate this above fan-fiction," he said.

Despite a raft of reasons why he said his Super Mario World script is terrible (he imagines you won't be able to finish it), Landis said he still sees some merit in it.

"In all honesty, I would love to play this script as an Uncharted-style new, grounded Mario Video-Game," he said. "I'd love to see art of certain scenes. But I can't imagine, literally cannot imagine that any of you who so ambitiously venture into this script will actually be able to finish it."

You can read the entire, 436-page Super Mario World script on Landis' website right now.

If you're looking for a Super Mario movie, you're stuck with 1993's famously terrible Super Mario Bros., which recently deceased lead actor Bob Hoskins described as the worst movie he ever worked on.

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Mister_F15

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So, why is this news? It wouldn't be news if I wrote a script of a Mario World movie and say it sucks a few years later.

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YukoAsho

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I don't think Mario would make for a good traditional movie. It has to be a cartoon, like an FIM or Transformers, maybe a kids' movie like The Emperor's New Groove. Trying to make anything other than a light-hearted children's comedy with sly references for the adults is a waste of time.

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Freedomination

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I see Super Mario Bros as more of a tv-series thing. Oh the unexpected cliffhangers on the end of each episode... "Thank you Mario! But the princess is in another castle!"

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VenkmanPHD

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...This sure SOUNDS like fan-fiction, so why should I care?

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deactivated-5ae060efb3bf6

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Just make it anyway, the fanboys will follow.

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GraveUypo

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he was right, i couldn't be bothered.

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Alexand20

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Seriously i dont care, IT MARIO BROS. !!! I just want a good finish story for the chapter of the old movie in 1993 of Mario Bros. !!!

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snugglebear

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"Somehow still better than that thing with Bob Hoskins."

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Ahiru-San

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and who is this writer anyways??

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BrunoBRS

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<< LINK REMOVED >> says in the article, says in the header. it's the guy that wrote Chronicle.

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Ahiru-San

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@BrunoBRS @Ahiru-San I thought that he wrote "chronicles"… never heard of Chronicle...

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BrunoBRS

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<< LINK REMOVED >> it's a movie about high school kids that get superpowers, and behave like actual high school kids with superpowers would (read: they're douches)

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b74kd3th

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What is this and why should I care?

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troll_eat_troll

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Why should you care? Well, only you can answer that question yourself unless there's someone pointing a gun at you to force you to care.

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EzioisMyname

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Filler, until the click bait gets posted

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EzioisMyname

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LOL, thanks for the honesty.

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HumdingerMarkie

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Nothing will ever top 1993s Super Mario Bros. Why even try?

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Alexand20

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Just let them make the rest of the story because when daisy arrived at the end of the movie Daisy say: MARIO LUIGI i need your help and the movie stop there !!!!! It would be great !!!

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HumdingerMarkie

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<< LINK REMOVED >>

Sequel. Bam. Make it happen Gamespot.

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elheber

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I once read that 1 page is approximately 1 minute in a movie script. Hot damn!

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deactivated-58a78a043e9d4

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<< LINK REMOVED >> If the guy's this bad at pacing, I doubt he's sticking to that rule, in fact most writers don't. It's just an old Hollywood studio thing. From a quick glance I'd say it's more like 20-30 seconds per page, excluding the torturous action sequences, they're all over the place.

Part of the problem is that every character points everything out, several times. He also has this weird, repeating shtick where characters argue over what to call other characters.

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PointingMonkey

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I heard that Mario smokes and drinks throughout the script. I can't see Nintendo allowing that to happen, if in some alternate history this script was taken seriously.

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deactivated-58a78a043e9d4

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> There's a fair amount of swearing too.

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PointingMonkey

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Really, I'm almost wanting to read it now, if only to see how bad it is, you've got me curious. I started reading it this morning but quit after Luigi's voice over on the first page. I prefer to eat my cheese not read it. :-)

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4KGamer_LMXXX

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Movies based on games suck, period!

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JRLennis

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<< LINK REMOVED >> No, the problem is that they aren't adapting the right games. Certain genres (FPS, platform, fighting) just don't make for good storytelling because telling a story is not the primary focus. Strong characters were not the hallmark of the Resident Evil games, so of course that isn't a strength in the films. And Lara Croft is at her best when she's all alone scaling impossible obstacles. You can't make an entire movie out of that and expect to sell the idea to audiences, so what we got was something that didn't satisfy anyone.


If you want a good video-game movie, you need a strong story and characters out of the box. There are plenty of games that fill that bill, but which ones would benefit notably from a new canvas to tell their stories? Which ones already have epic musical scores to translate to film? And which ones have a popular, lasting following due to their inherent qualities? The list is pretty short, but the perfect video-game movie is out there for those with the vision to make it happen.

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pezzott1

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@4kgamer_lmxxx Doesn't have to be the case but yeah, I know...

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Simulator_Shock

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@pezzott1 It shouldn't be the case but yet it always is for some reason...


Super Mario Bros, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Double Dragon (Only 90's kids remember that game), Dungeons and Dragons, Tomb Raider, and Resident Evil have all had terrible movie adaptations.

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SavageRodent

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<< LINK REMOVED >> The unfortunate truth...

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tom_cat_01

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"Looking back, there is nothing to elevate this above fan-fiction," - hey, don't knock fan fiction. Remember, everybody writing Superman, Batman, Dr Who etc today is, technically, writing fan fiction :P

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JRLennis

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<< LINK REMOVED >> Fan-fiction is usually classified as material written with a labor of love without a lot of writing skill to back it up. There's nothing wrong with writing about a universe and characters that you love, but your characterizations, pacing, and plot need to be as solid as any original piece of fiction for people to take it seriously. Pacing is one of the more difficult tricks for an amateur writer to nail down, so it's no surprise that this guy lost control of his narrative at age 19. Perhaps he should have written this monster as a novel first and then picked out the bits that fit best in a screenplay. Very different disciplines, those.

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pezzott1

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A 436-Pag script???!!! So it will be a 7 hour + movie?!

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