Chris Pratt to play Mario in 'Super Mario Bros' film

Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Charlie Day and Seth Rogen round-up the A-list voice cast for Nintendo's animation

Fans of 'Super Mario Bros' took to social media to debate Chris Pratt's casting as Mario in the upcoming film. EPA

Chris Pratt will play Mario in the upcoming Super Mario Bros film set for release in December next year.

The announcement was made by the creator of Mario, Shigeru Miyamoto, during a Nintendo Direct live-stream event on Thursday. Pratt will be joined by Charlie Day as his brother Luigi in the much-anticipated animation.

In fact, the film looks set to have something of an A-list voice cast with Anya Taylor-Joy, Seth Rogen and Keegan-Michael Key also cast.

Miyamoto said Charles Martinet, who has been the longtime voice of Mario in the games, will also have a cameo appearance in the film.

Pratt took to Instagram to share his thoughts on his new role, something he says he has been a fan of since he was a child.

“So when I was a kid I lived in Lake Stevens, Washington, and there was this coin-operated laundromat near my house, and it had a Super Mario Bros, the original arcade game. Oh I loved that game,” recalls the actor known for playing Owen Grady in the Jurassic World trilogy.

“I never had a quarter, if felt like. I'd either steal them from the wishing well … you know, that's wild … It's just dawned on me right now that the quarter I stole out of the wishing well to play Super Mario Bros has come true that I get to be the voice of Super Mario, but I clearly stole someone else's wish so I'm just waiting for that roll of karma dominoes to come crashing down on me ... Dreams come true.”

Pratt might not have too long to wait.

Fans of Super Mario Bros took to social media to debate his casting as the short, podgy Italian plumber. Some fans said that an Italian, or Italian-American actor would have been better placed to play the role.

Charlie Day, best known as Charlie from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia will play Luigi, Mario's brother and adventure partner in the fantasy world of the much-loved Nintendo game series.

Princess Peach Toadstool, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom will be voiced by Taylor-Joy, who played chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit.

The Super Mario supervillain Bowser will be voiced by actor Jack Black, Rogen will bring Donkey Kong to life and Emmy winner Key has been cast as Toad, Princess Peach's anthropomorphic mushroom sidekick.

During the 40-minute Nintendo Direct event, the company also revealed that the film is set for release in the US on December 21, 2022.