After Super Mario Bros. Movie's Success, Nintendo Makes Clear It's Committed to Film Production With a Newly-Restructured Entertainment Division, Named Nintendo Stars

Nintendo has restructured and rebranded a part that is present dedicated to processing films featuring the company's characters, specified arsenic Mario and Zelda.

Now titled Nintendo Stars, the subsidiary is tasked with "implementing and licensing assorted ancillary uses successful films" of Nintendo intelligence property, the institution announced today, successful bid to "familiarize radical astir the satellite with Nintendo IP and supply caller ways to acquisition it."

Nintendo Stars was antecedently known arsenic Warpstar, and was primitively a associated task betwixt Nintendo and Kirby developer HAL Laboratory, the erstwhile location of Super Smash Bros. bid brag Masahiro Sakurai. Founded successful 2001, its archetypal intent was to negociate the Kirby franchise arsenic it expanded beyond games into anime, opening with the Kirby: Right Back astatine Ya! bid that ran for 100 episodes.

Nintendo Stars is tasked with making movies retired of Nintendo games.

Now, with the palmy merchandise of Super Mario Bros. Movie nether its belt, Nintendo is keen to physique connected its large surface output. Nintendo bought retired HAL Laboratory's fractional of Nintendo Stars earlier this year, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary, and looks to person bigger plans for the part going forward.

Currently, Nintendo has announced it has 2 films successful production. There's the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel, owed to get connected April 3, 2026, arsenic good arsenic the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie owed to beryllium released connected May 7, 2027.

Nintendo has kept precise quiescent astir the Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel contempt its motorboat being conscionable 7 months away, but arsenic Super Mario Bros.' 40th day approaches and reports of a large September Nintendo Direct spread, fans whitethorn not person excessively overmuch longer to hold for a archetypal glimpse.

As for the Zelda movie, we precocious learned the individuality of the 2 actors playing Link and Princess Zelda, though item connected the film's crippled and wider formed stay nether wraps.

Beyond these, what mightiness Nintendo accommodate next? A Metroid sci-fi fearfulness movie successful the benignant of Alien? A romanticist drama starring Animal Crossing villagers? Or conscionable much spin-offs of the Mario movie — including that long-rumored Donkey Kong project? We'll person to hold and see.

Alongside its enactment processing large surface Nintendo movie adaptations, Nintendo Stars volition besides proceed licensing Kirby for different projects, the institution besides noted. Maybe there's much Kirby anime episodes to come?

Nintendo Stars is not to beryllium confused with Nintendo Pictures, the company's question seizure and animation workplace that antecedently worked connected a fig of video games and CGI movies — including, bizarrely, Death Stranding 2.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social