Super Mario superfans have catapulted the cult classic 1993 'Super Mario Bros.' movie to the No. 1 spot on Amazon's sales charts, even though it's terrible

In a bizarre twist, the original 1993 "Super Mario Bros." film is topping Amazon's video sales.
The movie was besting even the latest Fast & Furious movie on Tuesday morning.
The only ways to watch the movie are on DVD and Blu-ray; it's not on any streaming services.
Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

For a movie with a 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, that's regarded by its star actor as "the worst thing I ever did," the "Super Mario Bros." movie from 1993 is having a surprising renaissance.

On Amazon's video sales charts, "Super Mario Bros." took the top spot on Tuesday morning - even besting the latest Fast & Furious Blu-ray release.

That's because of the upcoming "Super Mario Bros." animated movie, which just had its casting unveiled: Chris Pratt is taking on the role of Super Mario, alongside a variety of other stars voicing everyone from Luigi to Bowser.

The 1993 adaptation of the hit video game series is regarded as the first live-action adaptation of a video game to film. Unfortunately, it was a critical and commercial flop which set a precedent for the next 20 years of video games being adapted to film.

"The movie may have tried to get a little too close to what the 'Mario Bros.' video games were," Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto told Edge Magazine in 2007. "And in that sense, it became a movie that was about a videogame, rather than being an entertaining movie in and of itself."

Similarly, Mario actor Bob Hoskins referred to the film as "the worst thing I ever did" in an interview with The Guardian. "It was a f---ing nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare," he said.

Over time, it's become a bit of a cult classic among video game fans and movie buffs alike - a "so bad it's good" kind of thing, along the lines of "Troll 2" or "The Room."

With the recent casting news for the upcoming "Super Mario Bros." film, people appear to be seeking out the original to watch it once again. Given that it's not available on any streaming service, and it was originally published as a VHS tape, copies of the movie on DVD and Blu-ray appear to be driving recent sales.

Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (bgilbert@insider.com), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

Read the original article on Business Insider