NEED TO KNOW
Chris Pratt’s Mario is blasting off into Nintendo’s wider galaxy.
Illumination and Nintendo announced on Friday, Sept. 12 that the sequel to the box office record-breaking animated The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be titled The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. The movie is set for release on April 3, 2026, almost exactly three years after the first movie earned the top opening of all time for an animated film with $377 million in worldwide ticket sales.
New footage from the project briefly shows Pratt’s Mario resting his eyes as he naps against a tree. After a butterfly lands on him, it flies throughout much of the Mushroom Kingdom, showing off various characters from the world of Mario until it flies past Princess Peach’s castle and into outer space.
Aside from Pratt, 46, returning to voice the iconic video game plumber, Anya-Taylor Joy will reprise her voice role as Princess Peach, while Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key and Kevin Michael Richardson will reprise their respective voice roles as Luigi, Bowser, Toad and Kamen.
Illumination
The Super Mario Bros. Movie went on to collect earned over $1 billion worldwide at the box office and is the 18th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
Nintendo and Illumination first announced that they were developing a sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie in March 2024. “We’re thinking about broadening Mario’s world further, and it’ll have a bright and fun story,” the companies said at the time.
While the first movie took its title from Nintendo’s original 1985 Super Mario Bros. game, Super Mario Galaxy takes its title from Nintendo’s 2007 game, which saw Mario take off across the universe to different galaxies and planets in a new attempt to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. In that game, Mario is aided by a star-shaped character called a Luma after Bowser kidnaps Peach using a flying saucer and takes off into space.
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Illumination
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, The Super Mario Bros. Movie came from Nintendo and Illumination, the studio behind the Despicable Me and Minions franchises. Horvath and Jelenic return to direct the new film in the series; Nintendo and Illumination added in its press release that additional characters and voice cast for the movie will be introduced down the line.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie hits theaters in April 3, 2026.
