We love him on console, but Mario’s previous outing to the big screen was a miserable failure. That said, can animation perhaps do our Italian plumber justice? The Wall Street Journal reports (paywall) that Illumination Entertainment is close to getting Nintendo Co. on board for a Super Mario Bros. movie.

Illumination Entertainment is best known as the creators of the Despicable Me franchise while also having a hand in Minions, The Secret Lives of Pets and Sing. They are owned by Universal Pictures.

Collider reports negotiations have stretched close to a year, and has been helped along by the theme-park partnership between Universal and Nintendo.

Since the deal has not been finalised, there’s no release schedule just yet, nor do we know any of the voice-talent associated with the project. All in good time we say, rather the movie takes as long as it needs than suffer the fate of its predecessor.

Video game movies generally do not have a good track record, with the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi respectively, widely panned by critics.

Have a look at what Nintendo has in store for its theme park in the quite entertaining little preview below.