Nintendo is now the new owners of the CG animation and motion capture studio, Dynamo Pictures. Nintendo will rename the company, which previously did motion capture work for Persona 5, Death Stranding, and NieR Replicant, into Nintendo Pictures. Does this mean that Nintendo is finally ready to jump back into Hollywood after all these years? We can’t say for sure. But, it is curious that the acquisition comes as Nintendo is working on the company’s first big-screen adaptation in a long time in next year’s Super Mario Bros. movie starring Chris Pratt. The deal, which will close by October 3, is a complete takeover with Nintendo getting “100 percent of the outstanding shares”. In turn, this will turn the newly acquired studio into a “wholly owned subsidiary” where the company’s goal is to “strengthen the planning and production of visual content in the Nintendo group.” Another interesting part about Nintendo’s statement is that the company said the buy-out “will only have a minor effect on Nintendo’s results for this fiscal year.” This implies that Nintendo Pictures won’t have big projects until 2024 if not beyond. Kotaku reached out to Nintendo to ask more about the acquisition, and here’s what it had to say: TLDR; Nintendo Pictures is keeping its plans under lock and key. Ultimately, the move is in line with the sudden shift in the entertainment industry. There’s a growing list of video games that have had successful movie and TV show adaptations in the past few years. The biggest one is easily Sonic the Hedgehog 2 followed by Uncharted. The Mortal Kombat series also enjoyed a successful movie reboot last year with a sequel already halfway done. With Sony all-in on its non-gaming PlayStation IP investments, it will be interesting to see how well Nintendo’s non-gaming ventures will do. For now, gamers can look forward to Nintendo’s upcoming exclusive games such as Bayonetta 3, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and Splatoon 3.
