Video Games

Nintendo confirms a new animated Mario film is on the way

A new film in the Mario cinematic universe is coming in 2026

Oliver Brandt

Nintendo confirms a new animated Mario film is on the way
Nintendo confirms a new animated Mario film is on the way /

It’s March 10, otherwise known as Mario Day, and that means announcements. We’ve had a couple of release date announcements – for Paper Mario and Luigi’s Mansion – but the biggest news is that Nintendo is officially working on a new animated Mario movie.

Nintendo announced the new film in a tweet, which was followed by a full press release. The film is “based on the world of Super Mario Bros.” although notably it isn’t said to be a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and will be produced once again by Illumination.

The new film will be produced by Illumination founder Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto, written by Matthew Fogel, and directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. If all of these names sound familiar, they should — this is the same creative team as The Super Mario Bros. Movie, so it’s likely to be along those lines.

Nintendo doesn’t say what the film will be about, but there are a couple of possibilities. The first is a straight sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which may have been hinted at during the credits sequence of the first film, with Yoshi’s egg appearing on-screen. Another possibility is a spinoff film based on Donkey Kong, which has been rumored in the past but not confirmed otherwise.

On Twitter, Miyamoto said that the creative team behind the film was “thinking about broadening Mario’s world further,” and said that the tone of the film will be bright and fun, which is about what you’d expect from a Mario film. It also somewhat suggests we may see a spinoff rather than a full sequel, but that’s just speculation on our part.

The new film will be released on April 3, 2026 in the US, with other regions to follow in the following weeks. That’s still a couple years away, yet, so we may be hearing about this for quite some time, but if it’s anything like the last film, we’ll likely only get hints and teases right up until the tail end of 2025.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie smashed box office records upon its release last year, having the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film ever, and ultimately becoming the first ever video game adaptation film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

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Oliver Brandt
OLIVER BRANDT

Oliver Brandt is a writer based in Tasmania, Australia. A marketing and journalism graduate, they have a love for puzzle games, JRPGs, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and any platformer with a double jump.

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