More Nintendo Movies On The Way, Shigeru Miyamoto Teases Once Again

In the wake of the blockbuster success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto has unsurprisingly hinted that more Nintendo movies might be on the way. Speaking to Japanese outlet Nikkei (via a NintendoEverything translation), Miyamoto said that Nintendo "is like a talent agency" and that the company has "plenty" of other entertainers.

"There are many possible ways we could go, such as using characters that would be fit for movies, or very well-known characters," Miyamoto said, while avoiding mentioning any specific details. This isn't the first time that Miyamoto has suggested that Nintendo will make more movies over time, as back in November last year, he told investors that Nintendo is taking a measured approach to film adaptations and will go "one by one," on a case basis. Even further back in September 2022, Nintendo announced in a management briefing with investors that more "visual content expansion initiatives" based on its various properties "may not be limited to film."

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has also mentioned that the company is exploring additional opportunities in the animated movie space. Nintendo has one of the richest intellectual property libraries in video games, as it has the potential to license out these IPs across a wide variety of genres. Fans have long considered The Legend of Zelda to be prime material for a fantasy feature film adaptation, Metroid has sci-fi action waiting to be realized, and Nintendogs is waiting for its moment to burst back into the mainstream. The Mario franchise is also brimming with spin-off potential, as between Luigi, Bowser, and Peach, there's plenty of room in the Mushroom Kingdom for more Mario movies.

For now, Mario's animated debut on the big screen is proving to be highly profitable. The film has made nearly $900 million at the global box office and is expected to make $1 billion soon, making it the highest-grossing video game movie of all time. For more, check out GameSpot's review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and how the infamous 1993 Super Mario Bros. film had a few ideas that Miyamoto would have probably vetoed if he knew about them.