As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Super Mario Bros. Moviecertainly wasn’t broke (it made over $1 billion at the international box office, lest we forget), and Universal, at least, doesn’t seem to think its formula needs fixing. The upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel is officially titled The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Variety reports. The title format isn’t the only thing that’s staying the same. Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad), and Kevin Michael Richardson (Kamek) will all be reprising their roles for the sequel. Now, all the studio needs to do is bash its head on a question block and watch the coins roll in.Â
All of this was announced during a Nintendo Direct livestream today, ahead of the 40th anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. game on September 13. The stream started off with a short teaser from animation studio Illumination, which co-produced the first film with Nintendo and Universal. The clip shows the titular plumber napping under a tree, before panning out to display the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom and eventually the galaxy. You can check it out below:
We don’t know any details about the film’s plot as of this writing, but Nintendo game director Shigeru Miyamoto teased (per Gizmodo) that it would take the gang to space—as one probably could have surmised from the title. It’s also pretty safe to assume that Jack Black will deliver another “Peaches”-esque ballad after the first one went mega-viral in 2023. While the film’s title specifically references the franchise’s 2007 Wii game, co-producer Chris Meledandri also teased that it would visit other corners of the Super Mario Bros. galaxy. “While The Super Mario Galaxy games are the core inspiration for our story, this next film holds surprises for fans of every Mario era,” he said.Â
