Nintendo game director Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination's Chris Meledandri announced the news during a Mario Day video, celebrated annually on March 10.
Co-directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic will return for the sequel, and Meledandri said on Sunday that they and their team of animators are already "busy at work storyboarding scenes and developing set designs for new environments." It will be written by Matthew Fogel, who also penned the script for the first film.
... It's unclear which fanciful characters the new film will focus on — be they plumbers, princesses, Koopas or other residents of the Mushroom Kingdom — and the partner companies are not using the word "sequel." However, the companies did specify that the movie will be released in theaters on April 3, 2026, in the U.S. and additional markets globally. It will be unveiled in other territories throughout April.
