Doesn't mean I don't want it, or that it wouldn't be amazing. 

A high budget giant robot movie wouldn't grab anime fans..... That's a new one...

This is a niche audience, even Pacific Rim which had a monster budget didn't light the box office on fire. Nintendo is not going to pick some C-tier IP to launch themselves into the movie business. 

This is about getting a taste of the big bucks that franchised properties like The LEGO Movie, Angry Birds Movie, and other kids CG films like Kung Fu Panda and Shrek pull in. 

Oh I'm certainly not syaing it would outdo a Pokemon movie... .In fact we got some pretty solid numbers on how a Pokemon movie would do.

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Pokemon#tab=summary

I'm not even arguing a Zelda or Mario movie pulling in higher numbers.... Because they would. 

All I'm saying is there would be an audience for a Xenoblade film. Probably a pretty big one.

Good to see them diversifying.
Nintendo has simply grown too large as a company to balance on two products. They're in a position now where they are facing better competition for those two products than in their entire history.
Gone are the days of needing only to fend off Sega, now they have two rival console manufacturers to tussle with, and they're both very tuned into the current videogame landscape.
And Their hand-helds are facing decent competition for the first time in ever. The Gamegear was the gamegear, and the PS Vita is the PS Vita, but mobile phones now offer a lot that appeals to exactly Nintendo's audience. Within a few years we'll have customers who grew up playing on phones and tablets instead of gameboys.

With such uncertainty in the only two landscapes Nintendo has its fingers in, it's not unthinkable that they might get a couple of flops in a row and find themselves in a nose dive they can't pull out of. They NEED to branch oout and have more business ventures to offset those potential losses.
So It's good to see them entering the mobile space and to see them trying expand into other media.

As long as they stick to anime/cartoon/cgi type of films, they'll be fine. Not many of nintendo's IPs could transition to live action well.

Not an even remotely big one. A microscopic one.

Not that it matters. These movies aren't meant to reward current fans. They're made to create new ones. The notion that Nintendo wouldn't pick a franchise for a movie adaptation because it's "too small" is absurd. That's the point of this stuff. To make their IP more well known, household names. That's why, to me, Mario is definitely not getting his own, stand alone movie.

Metroid - Introduce Samus.

The Legend of Zelda - Introduce Link, Zelda/Sheik, and Ganondorf.

Starfox - Introduce Fox and Falco.

Super Mash Bros. - Make this Mario's "movie," and introduce other characters like Luigi, Peach, Bowser, the Koopalings, Donkey Kong and Diddy, Kirby, Captain Falcon, Pikachu and Jiggly Puff, etc. Obviously include the characters from the first three. I wouldn't break hearts by introducing Ness, though. Let's kill that dream now. Plus, they don't want to oversaturate the first film with too many characters.

Then make three more movies as the first three expand into trologies.

Luigi's Mansion

F-Zero

Pokemon (If Nintendo are Disney-Marvel and Smash is their Avengers, Pokemon is Spider-Man. I'd love to see it happen in their universe, but let's be real. Sony-TPC won't allow that)

More than likely I think we can put Star Fox in a grave for a little while. WIth the numbers it pulled I think that will be the game that misses the next generation. 

LoZ is far too obvious, and they got a long time before they are even going to release a next iteration of. The True Zelda NX will be lucky to see five years from 2017 (2022). The best boost to software would be if the movie releases close to it. 

Smash is the obvious first choice, and from their, the next game they will probably want to boost interest in is Xenoblade X (which will look to be coming out in around 2 years). However, with Smash you are introducing a TON of characters. There is also the question if they will just remake 4 and not have a new Smash on NX. So should it come first?.... SHould it come last, after everyone (or at least most) has been introduced?... It could work either way.

One thing is for certain, they will use one to boost the other.

Bloomberg covered the story with better context, it should be noted that Nintendo just sold the majority of their Seattle Mariners share (still hold 10%) estimated around $1.5 billion. Movies, cartoons etc will give Nintendo better visibility for its intended audience, so Nintendo's wisely reinvesting from equity instead of dipping into their treasure chest.

"Any movies that might feature Nintendo’s popular characters from its Super Mario and Zelda franchises are probably two to three years from hitting big screens. The Japanese game maker said it’s in talks with multiple partners and plans to take the lead on production, rather than licensing out content. The effort will be funded from Nintendo’s sale of the bulk of its majority stake in the Seattle Mariners, which valued the team at $1.4 billion."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-16/nintendo-to-put-mario-to-work-with-foray-into-film-business

I was thinking about that, and maybe you're right, but making a Star Fox movie would be like putting him in Smash. He's being represented, but it doesn't mean he has any games in the pipeline.

No it's not. You're looking at this business wrong if you think an entry in the franchise needs to release along side it. The movies aren't being made to boost one game. This isn't Ratchet and Clank movie tie in bullshit. It's supposed to build a brand independant of the games. The Avengers aren't being released to increase comic sales. They're being released to increase the number of people who care and know about Iron Man, Captain A, Thor, Ant Man, Hulk, etc.

Honestly, I know I said that sales don't matter for these movies, but your dreaming if you think Xenoblade is getting a movie ever, let alone XCX. Definitely not over Star Fox. You need to lower your expectations way down if you think Nintendo's going to waste money on a plot that won't appeal to anyone. The great thing about Metroid, Zelda, and Star Fox is that their stories are so shallow that they can basically do whatever they want with the movies. They can't do that with Xenoblade.

Also, I don't think (at least if the movie isn't bad) they'll be introducing a lot of characters in a Smash movie. Under my rubric, they'd be introducing Mario characters who need little introduction, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Captain Falcon, maybe Pikachu and Jiggly-Puff, and that's likely it. Thinking Smash 4 roster is thinking way too big for any movie. Think Smash 64, and even that is a bit much. I talked about Zelda and Falco, but I doubt those guys would be in the first Smash movie simply because there'd be way too many characters.

I wouldn't be suprised if the first Smash movie was only: Mario and Luigi (new), Samus (from Metroid movie), Link (from Zelda movie), Fox (from Star Fox movie), Donkey Kong (new), Kirby (new), Captain Falcon (new), Pikachu and Jigglypuff (new), and that's it. From that list, only three of the seven new characters can talk, meaning only three out of the seven characters need to have a real focus on them to introduce their characters. Anymore, and you're really stretching the amount actual plot you can fit into the narrative that doesn't revolve around building new characters.