The CG production company will focus on developing IP-based visual content; company name will change to ‘Nintendo Pictures Co., Ltd’ as part of the deal, which is expected to close later this year.
Nintendo has purchased CG production company Dynamo Pictures, sharing in a statement that it has agreed to acquire “100% of [Dynamo’s] outstanding shares[,] and to make it a wholly owned subsidiary.”
The purpose of the acquisition, Nintendo says, is “to strengthen the planning and production structure of visual content in the Nintendo group.” When the deal closes on October 3, 2022, Dynamo Pictures’ name will be changed to “Nintendo Pictures Co., Ltd.” The new addition to the gaming giant will focus on developing content that utilizes Nintendo IP.
The move follows a growing trend across the gaming industry: Both Sega and Sony, for instance, have invested heavily in producing features and series based on their respective gaming properties, from Sonic the Hedgehog, to The Last of Us, to Uncharted. Nintendo is also looking ahead toward its biggest theatrical release in many years -- the forthcoming Super Mario feature, starring a voice acting cast that includes Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, Kevin Michael Richardson, Sebastian Maniscalco, and the original voice of Mario, Charles Martinet. This past April, the film’s North American distributor and production partner, Universal and Illumination, pushed the movie’s release data back from December 21, 2022, to April 7, 2023.
Dynamo Pictures’ recent credits include motion capture work on Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding and Atlus’ Persona 5, as well as post-production work on Nintendo’s Metroid: Other M. The company also created computer graphics for Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045, Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch, and Nintendo’s Pikmin Short Movies.
In its notification of the acquisition, Nintendo disclosed that it will pay 34.5 million yen (almost $250,000) for the company. Nintendo added that “the acquisition will have only a minor effect on Nintendo’s results for this fiscal year.”
Max Weinstein is a writer and editor based in Los Angeles. He is the Editor-at-Large of 'Dread Central' and former Editorial Director of 'MovieMaker.' His work has been featured in 'Cineaste,' 'Fangoria,' 'Playboy,' 'Vice,' and 'The Week.'
