After the massive success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which grossed $1.36 billion after releasing last year, Nintendo and Illumination have announced that a sequel is in the works. It’s out on April 3rd, 2026, in the United States and other regions before coming to other territories throughout the month.
Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto announced this during MAR10 Day 2024, with producer Chris Meledandri confirming the return of the first film’s directors, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. The team at Illumination Paris have been story-boarding scenes and developing sets for “new environments,” with animation “starting soon.” “Rest assured, we’ll be obsessing over every detail to get it just right.”
Further details have yet to be revealed, but per a tweet by Nintendo of America, the company is thinking of “broadening Mario’s world further” with a “bright and fun story.” Could this mean other Nintendo properties, like The Legend of Zelda (which is getting its own feature film co-financed by Sony Pictures)? Time will tell, so stay tuned.
The Mario series recently saw the launch of Super Mario Bros. Wonder last October, selling 11.96 million units. Other major releases this year include Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD for Nintendo Switch, with Princess Peach: Showtime! launching on March 22nd.