Tom Hanks Was Rejected From The 1993 Super Mario Bros. Movie For A Sad Reason

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There are '90s movies you won't believe are real, and then there's "Super Mario Bros."

A far cry from today's video game adaptations (which tend to be deeply faithful to their source material), directors Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton's notorious 1993 flop turned cult flick wholly abandons the playful designs and bright colors of the games that inspired it. Instead, "Super Mario Bros." reimagines Nintendo's famously lush Mushroom Kingdom as a dystopian cyberpunk cityscape whose grungy aesthetic recalls production designer David L. Snyder's work as an art director on "Blade Runner." Also, it's infested with splotchy fungal spores and populated by bizarre human/dinosaur hybrids.

You don't have to like it, but it's hard not to admire "Super Mario Bros." for its sheer chutzpah. There's also something oddly perfect about Bob Hoskins' casting as Mario in the movie, and not just in terms of his physical resemblance. Where the mustachioed plumber has little to no discernible personality in the "Super Mario" games, Hoskins portrays him as a lovably brusque working-class stiff, which contrasts nicely with John Leguizamo's turn as his younger, chiller sibling Luigi.

You can see, then, why the film's creatives almost cast Tom Hanks in the role, given his own knack for playing endearing grouches (as he's done time and time again in movies like "Cast Away," "Catch Me If You Can," and "A Man Called Otto"). Yes, according to Jeff Ryan's book "Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America," America's Dad was briefly attached to play Mario in "Super Mario Bros." However, he was dropped in favor of Hoskins because certain executives behind the film felt he was asking for too much money, given that he was regarded as box office poison at the time.

The biggest irony? Hanks was fired right before he became a true-blue superstar.

Remember that thing about Tom Hanks excelling at portraying likable grumps? That's precisely what he did when he starred in 1992's "A League of Their Own" as Jimmy Dugan, a crude, alcoholic, former pro baseball star who agrees to manage a team for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Director Penny Marshall's dramedy would go on to become a hit across the board, but Hanks' involvement was no accident. On the contrary, he actively sought out a role in "A League of Their Own," knowing he needed a surefire success.

Marshall, of course, had directed Hanks in her 1988 fantasy comedy classic "Big," but the years that followed were rough going for the actor. After appearing in two wildly different comedies that proved profitable despite leaving critics lukewarm (director Joe Dante's darkly satirical "The 'Burbs" and the man-dog buddy flick "Turner & Hooch"), Hanks starred in back to back financial duds with writer/director John Patrick Shanley's "Joe Versus the Volcano" and the Brian De Palma-helmed "The Bonfire of the Vanities" in 1990. And while Shanley's off-beat blend of screwball comedy and existential musings has always had its supporters (Roger Ebert included), De Palma's pricey, muddled take on Tom Wolfe's social satire novel is still regarded as an all-time stinker.

Hanks, fortunately, quickly moved on to better things. After "A League of Their Own," he reunited with his "Joe Versus the Volcano" co-star Meg Ryan for the hit rom-com "Sleepless in Seattle," won two Oscars in a row for "Philadelphia" and "Forrest Gump," and ... well, you know the rest. It undoubtedly didn't seem that way at the time, but in hindsight? Hanks being rejected from "Super Mario Bros." was the best thing he could've asked for.