While The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was recently dethroned by Michael as the “King” of the box office, there’s no denying its profitability in Hollywood. As such, I’m not at all surprised to hear there are rumors of many other Nintendo movies in the works, from long-rumored Donkey Kong projects to stuff the company claimed would never happen.
Notable Hollywood insider, @MyTimeToShineHello, posted a couple of comments listing the alleged film slate detailing a half-dozen movies that are currently being discussed with Nintendo. Unfortunately, none of these are surprise releases for the upcoming 2026 film release schedule, but I’m excited to learn more about all of them assuming this rumor is true:
- A Donkey Kong movie is already deep in development and slated for a 2028 release.
- -Work has begun on Mario 3, targeting 2029.
- -A Star Fox movie is in development, eyeing a 2030 release.
- -A Kirby movie is in early development.
- -Luigi’s Mansion is in the pitching stage as they search for writers.
- -A Yoshi’s Island movie is in a similar stage.
- -Despite previous statements, a Super Smash Bros. movie is being planned, but won’t release until after Star Fox.
- -They’re also exploring ideas for “Bowsers”, and a “Princess Peach & Rosalina” movies.
- -Pikmin movie also looking for writers.
- -Universal trying to get the rights for Metroid and more characters from Nintendo
Star Fox potentially getting a movie isn’t much of a surprise, especially since he was highlighted in a post-credit sequence. The same is true for Mario 3, which showed Princess Daisy, so I’m not surprised that’s a thing. As mentioned, the Donkey Kong movie was rumored to be in development a while back, and it almost feels like a given it’ll happen, considering the character occupies a chunk of Epic Universe’s Nintendo Land.
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I’m also not surprised that Nintendo and Illumination are looking into spinoff movies for supporting characters in the Mario movies, and I assumed Luigi’s scary scene in the first movie was already a soft launch to gauge interest in a Luigi’s Mansion movie. I’m on the fence about an adaptation of a Yoshi’s Island movie because I love that game so much, but Illumination has done a great job so far, so why would I doubt them now?
Kirby is another Nintendo icon whose name I’m shocked we haven’t heard sooner. Kirby: Right Back At Ya! was a successful animated series based on the character back in the 2000s, and got a hundred episodes that aired in both Japan and the United States. Kirby doesn’t talk much, so I’m not sure who could be found to play him, but I’m sure they’ll find someone quickly, given that Donald Glover volunteered to play Yoshi.
I think what shocks me the most is the rumor that Nintendo is looking into making a Super Smash Bros. movie, considering Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto directly shot down that claim not long ago. Assuming the rumor is true, perhaps the movie isn’t far enough along in development to be a certainty, and they’re still working out the details on how a massive crossover movie featuring many Nintendo characters would work.
I also think a standalone Pikmin movie would be difficult to do, but if anyone could find a way, it’s Nintendo. That leaves the Metroid movie, which is apparently being courted by Sony. All I can say about this is I’d sooner see a Samus Aran movie in live-action, but wouldn’t be opposed to animation if the right studio gets ahold of it.
We’ll have to wait and see just how many of these projects come to be. Ideally, I’m hoping Nintendo’s continued box office success encourages all of them to release eventually.