Original ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Directors Were ‘Abandoned by Hollywood’ After ‘Reviled’ 1993 Film. Then Quentin Tarantino Helped Vindicate Them
Ethan Shanfeld Last month, Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel went to the theater to see “Super Mario Bros.,” a movie they directed 30 years ago — and haven’t watched since. The live-action 1993 film, starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo as Mario and Luigi, bombed at the box office and landed on various “Worst Movies of All Time” lists, later developing a passionate cult following. In the directors’ own words, “Super Mario Bros.” was so “reviled” that it left a “black mark” on the married couple’s careers. That is, until a midnight screening held at Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Cinema “washed away the stain.”