The company explained in a video clip it published that the new movie, which includes the main characters of its games, will be released on April 3, 2026 in the United States, and in other countries around the world during the same month, according to Agence France-Presse.
The first animated film, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” achieved revenues exceeding $1.36 billion around the world, and only “Barbie” was ahead of it in terms of box office revenues in 2023.
Chris Meledandri, founder of the American animation studio Illumination, who also participated in the production of the first film, said that “the animation phase will begin soon.” He pointed out that Aaron Horvath and Michael Jellinek will also direct the new film after directing the first work.
For his part, the creator of the “Mario” character, Shigeru Miyamoto, said in the video clip: “We will announce additional details as soon as we feel we are ready for it.”
Nintendo has always been wary of Hollywood adaptations of its games, after the failure of the “Super Mario Brothers” movie in 1993, when the company then contented itself with selling the name of its hero to Hollywood, without participating in the production. But the success of the recent animated film that the giant Japanese company participated in preparing, confirmed the validity of this new approach.
Nintendo announced last November that it was in the process of preparing a live-action film inspired by the world of its famous game, “The Legend of Zelda,” the new part of which, “Tears of the Kingdom,” was released last year and sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Various parts of the world.
The film will be directed by Wes Ball, the director of the three “Maze Runner” films, while Avi Arad, who has supervised many films in the “Spider-Man” series, will co-produce it. Similar to what he accomplished in the movie “Super Mario Brothers,” Miyamoto, the creator of the game “Zelda,” will participate in adapting the adventures of “Link,” the main character in “The Legend of Zelda,” for the big screen.
