Charlie Day says he would love to star in a Luigi's Mansion movie adaptation after portraying the titular character in the Super Mario Bros. movie. Developed and published by Nintendo, the video game franchise centers on Luigi as he wins a mansion in a contest he didn't enter and agrees to meet his brother Mario there. Upon arrival, Luigi discovers the place to be haunted and his brother missing, requiring him to team up with the eccentric scientist Elvin Gadd and his Poltergust 3000 vacuum cleaner to clear the ghosts out the house and save Mario.
Luigi's Mansion proved to be a hit upon its release in 2002, scoring largely favorable reviews for its gameplay, sound design and graphics though also saw some criticism for its short length. The game has also sold over 3.3 million copies as of 2020, sitting as the fifth-best-selling GameCube game of all-time and was one of the first to be re-released under the special Player's Choice label on the console. This success would spawn two sequels, the Nintendo 3DS title Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon in 2013 and Luigi's Mansion 3 for the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
While speaking with ComicBook.com for the Amazon rom-com I Want You Back, Charlie Day opened up about his upcoming work as the iconic Luigi in the Super Mario Bros. movie. When asked whether he would be interested in starring in a Luigi's Mansion film, Day confirmed he would love to if he was invited. See what Day said below:
"Yeah, my son was just playing Luigi's Mansion the other day on his Switch. Look, I'm thrilled to get the opportunity, I grew up playing Super Mario Brothers as did everyone I know so, we'll see! It's like anything else in life, I'll go if I'm invited!'
Day is set to become the second only actor to play Luigi for a feature-length project after John Leguizamo first brought him to life in the critically panned live-action Super Mario Bros. movie. Despite the film's infamous reputation for its numerous deviations from Nintendo's games, namely in the designs of villain Bowser, the Goomba henchmen and supporting characters Toad and Yoshi, it has since gone on to be considered a cult classic. The film's critical and commercial failure led to Nintendo being reluctant to license its franchise out for any future adaptations until Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto became met with Illumination founder Chris Meledandri and began developing an animated feature.
Given the troubled screen past of the Super Mario Bros. franchise, it's understandable Nintendo and Illumination are waiting to see how the animated film performs before moving forward with other projects. However, should it indeed be successful, a Luigi's Mansion movie adaptation could be a fun expansion of the series for those who grew up with the original titles as well as serve as a Ghostbusters for younger audiences. Only time will tell what the future holds for Day and Luigi when the animated Mario movie hits theaters on December 21.
Source: ComicBook.com