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The clock above counts down to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Illumination and Nintendo's animated follow-up to the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie, opening April 3, 2026 with Chris Pratt and Charlie Day reprising Mario and Luigi.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the second collaboration between Illumination and Nintendo, with Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic returning to direct. The 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie crossed $1.36 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing video-game movie ever, reframing the strategic value of family-animation franchises for both companies. Galaxy expands the cinematic universe into space, drawing on the structure of Super Mario Galaxy (2007) and Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010) — among the most critically acclaimed Mario games ever made.
Shigeru Miyamoto returns as a producer alongside Chris Meledandri (Illumination), and the script is again from Matthew Fogel. The April 3 release window matches the spring-break anchor that the first film used.
The film is built around the cosmic adventure structure of Super Mario Galaxy — galaxies-as-levels, spherical-gravity environments, and Rosalina's Comet Observatory. Rosalina is widely expected to make her cinematic debut, alongside Yoshi (heavily teased at the end of the 2023 film). Expect direct callbacks to Galaxy's musical score, including the orchestral "Gusty Garden Galaxy" theme.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opens worldwide on April 3, 2026, in standard, IMAX, and premium-large-format presentations through Universal Pictures.
For more 2026 family-animation tentpoles, see the Moana live-action countdown and the Toy Story 5 countdown.
When does The Super Mario Galaxy Movie release? April 3, 2026. Who directs? Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, returning from the 2023 film. Is it based on the Super Mario Galaxy games? Yes — the cosmic adventure structure draws directly on Galaxy and Galaxy 2. Will Rosalina be in the film? She is widely expected to debut, but Nintendo and Illumination have not officially confirmed.
