Nintendo Confident MARIO MOVIE Sequel Will Be Just as Entertaining as Original

Published: July 17, 2025

Mario, nintendo — Photo by Ravi Palwe on Unsplash

By Gavin Boyle

As the sequel to the 2023 hit THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE continues production, Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto shared that he believes the upcoming movie will be extremely entertaining for all audiences.

“I am co-producing the animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. with Chris [Meledandri]. We have reached a point where we are confident that the new movie will be an entertaining film, so we have announced its theatrical release for next spring…” Miyamoto told Nintendo shareholders. “This is similar to game development; we want to release something that we are confident will satisfy our consumers. I always tell our teams to ‘work for the consumer, not for your boss.’”

“We are hard at work on the next movie, and we’re working very closely with the team at Nintendo,” Meledandri, who is the CEO of Illumination studios, added. “It’s my hope that the movie will entertain and be embraced by the core fans first, but we also hope that the film will appeal to new fans who have not yet embraced Mario and the world of Nintendo.”

The first SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE was extremely popular when it released in 2023, grossing over $1.36 billion at the global box office and ending the year as the No. 2 movie. Along with the mass appeal of Mario, the movie found success through a fun, family-friendly message that all audiences could enjoy. A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:

THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (2023) has a strong moral message about brotherhood, sacrifice, and working together to overcome evil. The movie has breathtaking animation that honors its iconic source material while breathing new life into the large cast of characters from both Mario video games and other Nintendo games of the same universe. For Mario and Luigi, love for one another helps them overcome their deepest fears and stand up against Bowser and his army of Koopas, Goombas, and Piranha Plants. Due to some intense animated action/violence, Movieguide® advises caution for younger children.

The sequel to the movie was announced in March 2024 and is currently slated to hit theaters on April 3, 2026. While Nintendo and Illumination have kept the plot of the second movie under wraps, it will likely feature Yoshi, as a post-credit scene from the first movie shows one of his iconic eggs left behind in New York City.

This is Miyamoto. We are now creating a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. This film is planned for release in theaters on April 3rd, 2026 in the US and many other markets, and throughout the month of April in other territories. [1/2]

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) March 10, 2024
Related: SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE Sequel Sets 2026 Premiere Date

THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE sequel is not the only project Nintendo is currently working on. The company is also producing a Legend of Zelda movie which will release in March 2027, and a recent copyright filing also suggests the company plans to create a Donkey Kong-centered movie.

The future is bright for fans of Nintendo as the company works hard to expand its cinematic offerings while keeping the quality as high as its enthusiasts expect.

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