Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Super Mario and an executive advisor at Nintendo, has outlined the company’s film strategy, stressing the permanent nature of cinema.
In a recent interview he explained that movies help bolster the brand and preserve Nintendo’s stories for generations to come.
“Video games can lose relevance as new releases arrive, but movies endure forever.”
Films enable the company to maintain ties to its characters and worlds even when games fall out of circulation, reflecting Nintendo’s intent to broaden transmedia storytelling and tailor its franchises for a global audience.
Nintendo’s cinematic push began with The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), produced in collaboration with Illumination. The film showcased Mario and Luigi in the Mushroom Kingdom and grossed $1.36 billion, becoming the highest-grossing video-game adaptation and the second-highest-grossing film of 2023.
Nintendo has confirmed a sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 3, 2026), and its first live-action project, The Legend of Zelda (May 7, 2027), in partnership with Sony Pictures. An animated Donkey Kong feature is also in development: Nintendo and Universal have registered “Untitled Donkey Kong Project; Motion picture,” indicating a standalone film for the character—who is voiced by Seth Rogen.
Source: iXBT.games