It came as no surprise earlier this year when it was announced that The Super Mario Bros. Movie was to receive a sequel. The 2023 animated feature made $1.3 billion from its theatrical release alone, and in a world without Barbie, would have been the biggest film of the year. Of course it’s getting a sequel. And now we know precisely when.
Posting on the official Japanese X (formerly Twitter) account, Miyamoto explained that he wanted to make an announcement ahead of June 18's Nintendo Direct, that the movie has a Japanese release date set for April 24, 2026. Oh, and it will be “fun,” which comes as quite a relief.
The tweet, translated by Google, reads,
Hello, this is Miyamoto. We will be broadcasting a Nintendo Direct tonight, but before that I would like to make an announcement. The release date for the new Super Mario animated movie in Japan has been set for April 24, 2026. We are working with the Illumination team to make it a fun movie, so please continue to look forward to it.
It’s worth noting that Japan’s release of the first movie was significantly later than most other territories. The U.S. first saw The Super Mario Bros. Movie on April 1, 2023, with general release on the 5th—the same day as much of the rest of the world. However, Japanese cinemas didn’t get the film until April 28.
So, if the same pattern repeats in 2026, there’s a good chance our release date could be more like April 1. Um, mark it on your 2026 calendar?
The original movie was, you know, pretty nice. It didn’t do anything spectacularly surprising, but then it wasn’t aiming for shock twists or some sort of fourth-wall-breaking metanarrative. But strong performances from Jack Black, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy and Keegan-Michael Key helped buoy things, and it sure was colorful.
Normally, a sequel to something so successful would cause concern, trying to balance doing the same thing again, but more. However, it feels fair to suggest that Mario has enough history and variation to offer enormous possibilities. For instance, just imagine a Mario Bros. 2 that incorporates many different instances of the character interacting—a Marioverse if you will. The first movie’s Mario meets Paper Mario meets 2D Mario meets N64 Mario meets Jumpman, after Bowser rampages across the dimensions. (Nintendo, Illusion, I’m available—call me.)
Oh, and Danny DeVito as Wario.
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