Mario and Luigi are heading to the big screen in one of the highest-profile licensing deals by a Hollywood studio in years.

Illumination Entertainment, which makes animated films for Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, is close to an agreement with Nintendo Co. to make an animated “Super Mario Bros.” movie based on the 32-year-old videogame series about a pair of sibling plumbers who fight evil turtles and mushrooms in a fantasy kingdom, said people with knowledge of the discussions.

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