The Super Mario Bros. Movie Sequel Announced for April 2026 Release

In celebration of March 10 as Mario Day, Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo announced the production of the next installment of The Super Mario Bros. animated film franchise. Illumination is working on the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie now in collaboration with Nintendo.

During a video announcement featuring Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto [the creator of the game series] and Illumination President Chris Meledandri, Meledandri revealed during the announcement that filmmakers Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic will be back to direct the upcoming sequel and animation production will be starting soon. Meledrandi stated, “Our directors, Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, and the very talented artists at Illumination Studios Paris, who brought the Mushroom Kingdom to life in The Super Mario Bros. Move, have been busy at work storyboarding scenes and developing set designs for new environments. We start animation soon and rest assured, we’ve been obsessing over every detail to get it just right.”

Meledandri also announced an April 3, 2026 release date for the new film in the U.S. and other territories across the globe. Miyamoto added that they are now thinking about “broadening Mario’s world further,” adding that the film “will have a bright, fun story.”

The first film, released in the spring of last year, was a box office smash hit, grossing $574 million at the domestic box office and over $1.3 billion worldwide. The film featured an all-star voice cast, including Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad.

You can see Miyamoto and Illumination’s announcement for Mario Day below.

Wahoo! Nintendo and Illumination are excited to announce production on a new film in continuation of our partnership. Watch to learn more. pic.twitter.com/CNnS2ZGxIZ

— Illumination (@illumination) March 10, 2024