Nintendo has officially confirmed they are making a second Super Mario Bros. Movie with Illumination Studios.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, much of the people in charge of the production of the first Super Mario Bros. Movie are returning for the second film. This means Matthew Fogel is once again writing, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic are returning as directors, and of course, Nintendo Fellow Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination Studios CEO Chris Meledandri are producing.
The movie is set for release on April 3, 2026, a considerably shorter time frame than what the original went through. But of course, we can assume that Illumination will get to use a lot of work from the original film, including character models and settings, as well as Illumination’s familiarity with the Mario universe.
Shigeru Miyamoto apparently has direct access to the official Nintendo of America Twitter account. He sent this message on that platform:
“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.
We’ll let you know the details once we’re ready to share more. This time too, the staff at Illumination and Nintendo are working together. We’re thinking about broadening Mario’s world further, and it’ll have a bright and fun story. We hope you’ll look forward to it!”
This was a summary of a similar message Miyamoto made on Nintendo’s Mario Day video presentation held yesterday, March 10, 2024. Chris Meledandri also shared a message via video:
“I’m thrilled to announce our return to Super Mario Bros.
We start animation soon, and rest assured we’re be stressing over every detail to get it right.”
That message may seem innocuous, but by confirming that Illumination is about to begin animation, Meledandri confirmed that they had already finished pre-production. This means the story, cast, and production schedule has been planned out, and that’s why they felt confident to make this announcement.
As our source pointed out, they didn’t quite confirm that this is a sequel to the first movie, and they do have a few directions they can go. For example, Nintendo and Illumination can simply make a prequel. Alternately, they can make a new movie based on an alternate universe version of Mario, based on a different game, such as Super Mario Bros. 2, Paper Mario, or Mario and Luigi. They can even make a Luigi’s Mansion, Donkey Kong, or Princess Peach movie.
We may have to wait a little bit longer for more news but isn’t it great to just get this confirmed at all?
