The partnership that was struck between Nintendo and Illumination has spawned two hit films set within the Super Mario franchise. With every release, the cinematic universe that Nintendo and Illumination are building continues to grow, and our next animated venture in the world of Nintendo seems closer than we expected.
A New Challenger Approaches
Universal Pictures International Spain’s recent movie release schedule highlighted all of the major motion pictures fans will be enjoying for the next few years. But tucked within the massive release slate, an yet to be named movie coming from Illumination and Nintendo is penciled in for a theatrical release in April of 2028.
With the Super Mario Galaxy movie surpassing the $800 million mark at the global box office recently, it’s no surprise that Nintendo and Illumination want to carry this momentum for yet another film. As for who or what this movie could be centered around, there is an ever-growing list of stories to explore that have loosely been set up over the past two movies. Characters like Fox McCloud immediately come to mind for characters who are primed for a feature-length adventure after his recent cameo in the Mario Galaxy movie. Nintendo could also look to a character like Donkey Kong, who, while not featured in this recent movie in a major way, is coming off the heels of the wildly popular Donkey Kong Bananza.
Pass on the Smash
Despite many fans’ beliefs, the vision for a Super Smash Bros. crossover movie is all but a figment of our imagination for now. Recently, Shigeru Miyamoto spoke with Polygon and dismissed the idea of a crossover movie by stating, “I don’t think you’ll have a situation [where] all Nintendo characters would be joining [together in one film].” So it appears as if Nintendo and Illumination are more focused on building up a highly intricate Nintendo cinematic universe that features rich story arcs for each of its inhabitants.
