Film with crossover characters opens in U.S., U.K. on April 1
The official X/Twitter account for Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, revealed in a visual on Thursday that Star Fox game series’ protagonist Fox McCloud will be in the movie.
Image via The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s X/Twitter account
© Nintendo, Illumination, Universal Pictures
Although Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo have created both the Mario and Star Fox series, the characters and worlds do not generally appear in games together outside of crossovers such as Super Smash Bros.
Nintendo previously teased that R.O.B. the robot, a “Robotic Operating Buddy” and peripheral that launched with the original Nintendo console (NES) in 1985, and Pikmin from Miyamoto’s games of the same name, will also be in the film. Pikmin have appeared as cameo references in the previous movie and as hidden secrets to find in Universal Studios’ Super Nintendo World Mario-focused theme park.
The film will open in the United States and the United Kingdom on April 1, in other select territories on April 3, and in Japan on April 24.
Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and Nintendo representative director and fellow Shigeru Miyamoto are again producing Illumination and Universal Pictures’ new film. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and screenwriter Matthew Fogel are returning from the previous film for the new project. Brian Tyler is returning to compose the soundtrack.
Brie Larson (Captain Marvel, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) joins the film’s cast as Rosalina, while Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer, director/writer of Uncut Gems) plays Bowser Jr. Donald Glover will voice Yoshi. Issa Rae joins the cast as Honey Queen, and Luis Guzmán plays Wart. Returning cast members include Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach. Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek.
The film commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. franchise. Meledandri stated that although the movie is based on the Super Mario Galaxy games, it will feature “surprises” from every Mario era.
The original Super Mario Galaxy game debuted on Nintendo Wii in November 2007. The sequel Super Mario Galaxy 2 launched for Wii in May 2010. Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2, a collection for Nintendo Switch with enhanced versions of both games, launched on October 2. The collection features enhanced resolution, improved user interface (UI), an Assist Mode for for additional Health and fall recovery, and new pages for Rosalina’s Storybook. Each game is also available individually digitally.
Nintendo confirmed on March 10, 2024 that a new animated film “based on the world of Super Mario Bros.” is in the works with Illumination. Returning partner Universal Pictures planned to release the film on April 3, 2026 in the United States and many other markets.
Sources: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s X/Twitter account
