Today is Mario Day and in celebration of Nintendo's beloved gaming franchise, legendary game director Shigeru Miyamoto had a very exciting announcement: The Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel will arrive in theaters on April 3, 2026.
A sequel to the animated blockbuster had long been expected, but we hadn't had an official announcement until today.
Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who helmed the first film, are returning for the sequel, which is still early in production.
"Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and the very talented artists from Illumination Studios Paris, who brought the Mushroom Kingdom to life in The Super Mario Bros. Movie have been busy at work storyboarding scenes and developing set designs for new environments," Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri said in a pre-recorded video. "We start animation soon and rest assured we will be obsessing over every detail to get it just right."
Specific plot details weren't revealed, but Miyamoto promised to share more once they are at a proper place to do so. He did hint that "we're thinking about broadening Mario's world further, and it'll have a bright and fun story."
Although The Super Mario Bros. Movie was inspired by the beloved Nintendo video game franchise, it didn't follow the plot of any specific game. Rather, it combined various elements from the video games in an original storyline that saw Mario and Luigi sucked into a warp pipe and taken to a mysterious land. Mario winds up in the Mushroom Kingdom, ruled by Princess Peach, while Luigi lands in the Dark Lands, ruled by the evil King Bowser. With Bowser threatening to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom unless Princess Peach marries him, Mario and others rally together to fend off the evil threat.
While many fan-favorite characters appeared in the first film, quite a few Mario mainstays were absent, including Wario, Waluigi, Daisy and Yoshi. Although the latter was teased in a post-credits scene.
It's hard to predict which direction Illumination and Nintendo will go with the sequel, but I'm sure we all recall the line from Princess Peach teasing "a huge universe out there." Could Mario and his friends be headed to another world in a story inspired by Super Mario Galaxy?
The Super Mario Bros. Movie starred Chris Pratt (Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy) as the voice of Mario. While some die-hard fans were disappointed Charles Martinet, who voiced the character in the video games, wasn't chosen for the movie, Pratt ultimately did the role justice. The cast also included Charlie Day (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) as Mario's younger brother, Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit) as Princess Peach, Jack Black as King Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
Casting details were not announced today, but we can assume most of the original cast will return for the sequel. We could even see a few newcomers join in for the next adventure as well!
Despite lackluster reviews by critics, The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a hit with general audiences and commercial success. The film earned over $1.3 billion at the global box office, breaking records the record for the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and becoming the first film based on a video game to gross over $1 billion.