Illumination Entertainment’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie is opening in theaters next month, and is looking like a surprisingly faithful, entertaining adaptation of the beloved video game characters. But it’s not the first time Hollywood has tried this – thirty years ago, there was Super Mario Bros., a live-action adaptation starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, and Dennis Hopper that wound up having almost nothing to do with the video games, bombed spectacularly at the box-office, and was weirdly dark, grotesque, and horny. It is one of the most bizarre films ever made, and has one of the most incredible, mind-boggling production histories we’ve ever seen. So on the eve of Mario returning to theaters in a more recognizable form, we thought now would be a good time to look back on the first attempt to bring the plumber to the big screen, and how this infamous cinematic trainwreck took form. 

Enjoy! 

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