In an effort to turn its finances around, and further popularize its collection of iconic characters, Nintendo is ready to bring its hit franchises to the big screen.

Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima recently spoke with The Asahi Shimbun newspaper in Japan this week about making Nintendo-produced films, with the first ready to go in about two to three years. Although the company has licensed some of its characters to appear in movies such as Wreck-It Ralph and Pixelsthis marks the first time since the 1993’s Super Mario Bros.: The Movie that a movie will be entirely based on one of its franchises.

However, Nintendo wants to make it clear that it would retain control of its properties this time around, instead of just licensing them out. While a number of movie production companies are in negotiation with the company with projects, Kimishima noted, “we want to do as much as we can by ourselves.”

There are a number of franchises that have the potential to be big hits, particularly Super Mario, which has had several top-selling games and features Nintendo’s most recognizable character. There’s also Star Fox and Metroid for science fiction fans, and along with the ever-popular The Legend of Zelda.

The movie production would stand as a separate business from video game publishing, although the company is sure to do cross-promotion. For instance, it could launch a new video game to coincide with a Metroid movie.

There’s no word yet on what the company’s first project will be, but we’ll likely have more details later this year when an official deal is reached.

Video games have a stronger presence than ever on the silver screen, so Nintendo has excellent timing. The Angry Birds Movie is set to debut later this week; Ubisoft just premiered a new trailer for its holiday release Assassin’s Creed; and a new Tomb Raider film is in the works, with Academy Award-winning actress Alicia Vikander stepping into the role of Lara Croft.

Mario and company will have no trouble fitting right in, despite how poorly received the original Super Mario Bros.: The Movie was.