Nintendo fans are rejoicing! In celebration of Mario Day, Nintendo announced an animated sequel to 2023’s box office success The Super Mario Bros. Movie by Illumination as well as the release dates for a plethora of Super Mario titles set to launch on Nintendo Switch in 2024.
(from left) Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) in Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
March 10th every year is often abbreviated to MAR10 resembling the spelling of gaming’s most iconic character, “Super Mario,” thus Mario Day was born. To celebrate the occasion, Nintendo has made various new Mario announcements in a video uploaded to their official YouTube channels.
READ: Insights into the Nintendo Cinematic Universe Roadmap Emerge
During the video, Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Illumination founder, Chris Meledandri, announced that a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in production as well as a release date.
Meledandri stated, “I’m thrilled to be here alongside Miyamoto-san to officially announce our return to The Super Mario Bros. Our directors 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. We start animation soon and rest assured we will be obsessing over every detail to get it just right.”
Meledandri then revealed the film is set for a US release date on April 3, 2026 and many other markets globally with a few select territories releasing throughout the month of April.
(from left) Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Mario (Chris Pratt), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) and Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) in Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
However, in what is perhaps a bigger announcement, Shigeru Miyamoto alluded to The Super Mario Bros. film series “broadening Mario’s world,” in what could hint at a cinematic universe.
Insider WDW Pro previously leaked that Nintendo and Illumination had been hard at work on a Nintendo Cinematic Universe despite difficulties with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023.
Back in January 2023 during an appearance on the Renegade Online show, WDW Pro said, “What I can say is if [The Super Mario Bros. Movie] does well you can be guaranteed that a Zelda movie will be on the way in the future.”
A couple of months later in May he also shared, “A princess movie is likely on the horizon. And we believe that they also want to push the princess line into the toy lines. They think that the princesses from Mario can be a significant merchandising wonder … once they get ready to launch that. And it could actually be something that would contend with the Disney Princesses.”
READ: Chris Pratt Confirms Gigantic Nature of the Nintendo Cinematic Universe
During the Mario Day video, Miyamoto said, “Now, as for details of the new movie, as I often say, we’ll let you know once we’re at the stage where we’re ready to share more.”
He added, “This time we’re thinking about broadening Mario’s world further and it’ll have a bright and fun story. We hope you’ll look forward to it.”
(from left) Mario (Chris Pratt), Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) in Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
Miyamoto’s words align with Pro’s leak, with a live-action Zelda movie in development, and a rumored animated Zelda film possibly on the horizon.
It is very likely that fans will be seeing some of their favorite video game character’s meeting on the big screen in this decade.
Chris Pratt had also previously indicated a Nintendo Cinematic Universe was in the works while promoting the first film. He told Extra TV, “This is a passionate fan base and it makes sense. I understand. I’m part of it. This is the sound track to your youth. You don’t want someone to come along and cynically kind of destroy it as a cash grab with the movie. I fully understand that. You do not want that to happen. And there were so many hearts, and souls, and minds dedicated to making sure that didn’t happen.
“And you saw the movie it really honors the video game. It honors the world of Mario and is very promising as to like what we could expect over the next 10 years, like an entire universe of these types of movies. They’re super nostalgic. They’re really fun,” Pratt said.
READ: Alleged Leaker Claims Switch 2 Will Feature Two High Profile RPGs On Nintendo’s New System
On top of the film announcement and release date, Nintendo also dropped the release dates of remakes, remasters, and ports of some of their beloved Mario titles from over the years, including a highly sought after and anticipated remake of 2005’s GameCube classic Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, which will arrive on Nintendo Switch on May 23, 2024.
Also announced, Luigi’s Mansion 2, which was dubbed Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon when it was originally released in the US in 2013, will be receiving an HD remaster this year. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD was announced to be launching on Nintendo Switch on June 27, 2024, only a little over a month after Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door’s release.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 originally released on Nintendo 3DS back in 2013 and is expected to benefit greatly from a tech upgrade over 10 years later from its original release.
(from left) Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy), Mario (Chris Pratt) and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) in Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
In one last quick segment, Nintendo also showcased that Dr. Mario for GameBoy and both Mario Golf and Mario Tennis for GameBoy Color will be coming to Nintendo Switch Online on March 12, 2024.
Dr Mario is a respected puzzle game by many and Mario Tennis on GameBoy Color has been seen as a hidden “gem” for its gripping story mode, lacking in many modern day Mario Sports titles.
(from left) Mario (Chris Pratt) and Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) in Nintendo and Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
Do you think that all these Mario announcements will generate a lot of routine buzz throughout the year, is Miyamoto hinting at a larger Nintendo Cinematic Universe or NCU and will Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door’s sales reflect the high demand for a remake throughout the last decade? Only time will reveal for sure!
NEXT: Can Nintendo Retain The Video Game Crown With Their Next Console?
