- “It’s a bit of an origin tale. It’s the story of Mario becoming Super Mario,” director Aaron Horvath told TotalFilm of the project during an interview.
- He noted how the casting agents were looking for someone to realistically portray “a blue-collar guy from a family of Italian immigrants” in Brooklyn.
- “For us, it made total sense,” Horvath said of them landing on Pratt as the ideal choice.
