Illumination and Nintendo have announced that a new “Super Mario Bros.” movie is set for a 2026 release.
In honor of Mario Day, which falls on March 10, as a play on “Mar10” appearing to spell out Mario, Nintendo and Illumination, the studio behind 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” have announced a second film is on the way. The film is set to hit theaters on April 3, 2026.
Shared via a video announcement with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and CEO, Chris Meledandri, the new “Super Mario Bros.” movie is set to expand on Mario’s world. The film will be directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who directed the first film. As of now, this new project is not being called a sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” Read what Miyamoto and Meledandri had to say about the upcoming film below.
“We are now working with the folks at Illumination on a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie,’ released last spring continues to be watched by many people, including over the holidays and into the new year! Thank you all very much.
The team at Illumination, who worked on ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ is also producing this new film, together with Nintendo.
Now, as for the details of the new movie, as I often say, we’ll let you know once we’re at the stage where we’re ready to share more. This time, we’re thinking about broadening Mario’s world further, and it’ll have a bright and fun story. We hope you’ll like forward to it!”
Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo
“Our directors, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, and the very talented artists from Illumination Studios Paris who brought the Mushroom Kingdom to life in ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ have been busy at work storyboarding scenes and developing set designs for new environments. We start animation soon, and rest assured we’ll be obsessing over every detail to get it just right. The film will arrive on April 3, 2026 in the U.S. and many other markets globally, with a few select territories releasing throughout the month of April.”
Chris Meledandri, Illumination
Watch the full video announcement below.
The next two years are set to be big ones for The Super Mario Bros. franchise, as before the 2026 release of the film, a Super Nintendo World will open at Universal’s Epic Universe theme park in Florida in 2025.
Are you excited to see a new movie set in “The Super Mario Bros.” world? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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