Nintendo Eyes Expansion Into Film BusinessNintendo's president, Tatsumi Kimishima, says the company is in talks with several global production companies.

Movies likeMario KartandThe Legend of Zeldacould soon be coming to a theater near you.

Nintendo Co. Ltd. is in talks with several global production companies about expanding its video content business, including making movies, said Tatsumi Kimishima, president of the Japanese videogame maker.

The move is aimed at strengthening Nintendo's character business and expanding the global gaming population, he told theAsahinewspaper in an interview published Monday.

"We're talking with various partners. I think we'll be able to decide something in the not-too-distant future," Kimishima told the Japanese daily.

Kimishima declined to say when any projects would be announced but said it would not be as far off as five years. He would not say which of Nintendo's popular characters were being considered for use.

A Nintendo spokesman toldReutersthat Kimishima's comments referred to "video content" but did not deny the possibility of making movies.

Nintendo is diversifying its operations to counter a shrinking console business. It has entered the fast-growing mobile game segment and reached a deal with NBCUniversal to develop theme-park attractions.

In fact, Nintendo already allows film companies to use its characters through licensing agreements, such as for thePokemonfranchise. There was also a Hollywood live-action movie based onSuper Marioin 1993 but it was a box office and critical bomb.

But Kimishima told theAsahithat this time, Nintendo would like to do things itself as much as possible, rather than just licensing out its content, and said it was unlikely to be live-action.

In 2014,Super Mariocreator Shigeru Miyamoto screened a 3-D short-animation film based on Nintendo's Pikmin characters at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and inan interview withReutersleft the door open to future film projects.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Additional reporting by Yoshiyasu Shida and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Kim Coghill)