After 1993’s “Super Mario Bros.” became one of the biggest video game movie bombs of all time, Nintendo put the kibosh on further film adaptations for the better part of 30 years. But the company eventually found a worthy creative partner in Illumination, Universal’s computer animation house that’s delivered hits like “Despicable Me,” “Sing,” and “The Secret Life of Pets.” The two companies took another crack at bringing the Mushroom Kingdom to the big screen, this time wisely steering clear of the live action route.
The result was 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” which, despite a tepid critical response, was a massive hit at the box office. It wasn’t long before it scaled the highest-grossing video game movies of all time, becoming the new champion in that arena. “A Minecraft Movie” made a noble run for the crown in 2025, but ultimately ended its theatrical run at a strong, but nevertheless measurably distant, second place.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” initially streamed on the Universal-owned Peacock before going onto Netflix, but has since jumped to other services. As of this writing, families have been finding their way to this delightful adventure romp on Prime Video, where it currently ranks among the platform’s 10 most-streamed movies (via FlixPatrol).
Now’s a good time to prepare for the upcoming Super Mario movie sequel
When a movie makes nearly $1.4 billion worldwide, a sequel is practically guaranteed. But surprisngly, it wasn’t necessarily a foregone conclusion that Nintendo would immediately green light a sequel, even after the first film proved successful. But in March 2024, Nintendo and Illumination officially confirmed that a follow-up to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was indeed in development.
After a period of vague updates, September 2025 brought the reveal of the sequel’s official title and release date. “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” titled after the two “Super Mario Galaxy” games initially released for the Nintendo Wii console that have subsequently seen remastered versions for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, is set to hit theaters on April 3, 2026.
Other than confirming that the core cast from the first movie are returning and will be voiced by the same actors, it is not yet known which new characters will be joining the fray — though Bowser actor Jack Black says the sequel needs Pedro Pascal as Wario, Mario’s longtime evil doppelganger.