The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the 2026 sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, made by the same team. Illumination and Nintendo produced it and Universal Pictures released it. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic return as directors, working from another screenplay by Matthew Fogel, with Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto producing. As the title suggests, the film draws mainly on Super Mario Galaxy (2007) and Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010), taking the story beyond the Mushroom Kingdom and out into space.

Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black and Keegan-Michael Key return as Mario, Peach, Luigi, Bowser and Toad. They are joined by Brie Larson as Rosalina, Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr. and Donald Glover as Yoshi. In a surprise crossover, Glen Powell also appears as Fox McCloud from Nintendo’s Star Fox series.

The film opened worldwide on 1 April 2026. It drew harsher reviews than its predecessor, but it was still a huge hit. It became the first film released in 2026 to pass $1 billion worldwide, and it now ranks as the second-highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time, behind only the first film.

Some time after the events of the first film, a shrunken Bowser is being held in the Mushroom Kingdom, where Mario and Luigi are trying, with limited success, to reform him. Out among the stars, however, his son Bowser Jr. has plans of his own. He wants to free his father and restore the family name, and to do that he intends to capture Rosalina, the cosmic guardian of the Lumas, and use her power to fuel a weapon that could threaten the whole universe.

When a Luma brings word of the danger, Peach and Toad set off to find Rosalina, leaving the brothers to look after the kingdom. Mario and Luigi soon gain a new friend in Yoshi, a cheerful dinosaur with a surprising link to Brooklyn. Before long, Bowser Jr. strikes at Peach’s Castle itself, and the adventure moves into space.

The journey takes the heroes through a series of worlds that fans of the Galaxy games will recognise, including the Honeyhive Galaxy, home of the Honey Queen, and the busy Gateway Galaxy. There, the shady casino boss Wart knows more than he lets on, and the group finds an unexpected pilot in the space ace Fox McCloud.

From there, the film becomes a race across the cosmos to rescue Rosalina and stop Bowser Jr. before his weapon is ready. We’ll leave the later twists, and a finale packed with cameos, for viewers to discover.

The principal returning cast, including Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, was confirmed when the title was announced in September 2025. New cast was then revealed in stages. Brie Larson (Rosalina) and Benny Safdie (Bowser Jr.) were announced with the first trailer on 12 November 2025. Donald Glover (Yoshi), Issa Rae (the Honey Queen) and Luis Guzmán (Wart) followed when the final trailer debuted in a Nintendo Direct on 9 March 2026. The best-kept secret was Fox McCloud. His poster appeared on the film’s social media on 26 March 2026, and the next day Glen Powell confirmed the role himself with a playful Instagram video, less than a week before release.

Glover’s Yoshi is unusual: Miyamoto explained at the Japanese premiere that Glover voices the character in every language version, while the rest of the cast is re-dubbed locally. Returning supporting voices include Eric Bauza as the Toad General and Juliet Jelenic as Lumalee.

The Japanese dub again stars Mamoru Miyano as Mario, Arisa Shida as Peach, Tasuku Hatanaka as Luigi, Kenta Miyake as Bowser and Tomokazu Seki as Toad. New to the cast are Maaya Sakamoto as Rosalina, Daiki Yamashita as Bowser Jr., Eiji Takeuchi as Fox, Yusaku Yara as Wart and Romi Park as the Honey Queen.

Japanese voice cast

After the first film’s record-breaking run, Meledandri and Miyamoto officially confirmed a follow-up on MAR10 Day, 10 March 2024. It was set for release in April 2026, with Horvath, Jelenic and Fogel all returning. Universal Pictures and Nintendo co-financed the film, and the animation was once again produced at Illumination Studios Paris. It was finished in November 2025, and in a January 2026 Nintendo Direct Meledandri confirmed that the film had moved into post-production.

Explaining the choice of Super Mario Galaxy as a starting point, Meledandri said that the game’s cinematic scale, Rosalina’s story and the emotional pull of its music gave the team plenty to build on. Super Mario World and Super Mario Odyssey had also been discussed. Miyamoto said that after a film set in the Mushroom Kingdom, heading into space felt like the natural next step. He preferred to describe the project as “the next movie” rather than a sequel. He later told Famitsu that the team had also considered a separate film about Yoshi causing chaos in New York, before working the character into this story instead.

The title was revealed in a Nintendo Direct on 12 September 2025, and the first full trailer followed on 12 November. A further trailer on 25 January 2026 introduced Yoshi and Birdo, and Nintendo also announced that the US release would move forward two days, from 3 April to 1 April 2026, in line with most other territories. The final trailer and cast reveal came in a dedicated Nintendo Direct on 9 March 2026.

The world premiere took place on 28 March 2026 at the historic Minami-za theatre in Kyoto, Nintendo’s home city, at a screening for Japanese fans chosen by lottery. The film opened on Wednesday 1 April 2026 in the US, the UK and most other markets, ahead of the Easter weekend. Japan followed on 24 April and South Korea on 29 April.

In North America it took $34 million on its first day, $131.7 million over the three-day weekend and $190.8 million across five days. Worldwide, it opened with around $372.5 million from 80 markets, the biggest Hollywood launch of 2026 and only slightly behind the first film’s $377.5 million. Mexico ($29.1 million) and the UK and Ireland ($19.7 million) were its largest overseas openings. It stayed at No. 1 in North America for three weekends.

The film passed $1 billion worldwide in its tenth weekend, in early June 2026, making it the first 2026 release to reach that milestone. Its North American run ended on 2 July with $429.8 million. As of 28 October 2026, The Numbers reports a worldwide total of $1,013,241,249, including $583.4 million from outside North America. In Japan it had earned ¥7.37 billion by early June, which made it Illumination’s second-biggest film there, behind the first Mario movie. It sits second among video game adaptations, behind its predecessor’s $1.36 billion, and together the two films have grossed more than $2.3 billion.

Critics were tougher on the sequel than on the original. Rotten Tomatoes reports 42% approval from 226 reviews, and Metacritic gives a score of 37 from 45 critics, which it classes as generally unfavourable. Reviewers frequently praised the colourful, densely detailed animation, the sense of scale and the sheer volume of fan service. Glover’s Yoshi and Powell’s Fox also drew some praise. The most common complaint was the story: many critics called it thin and the pacing frantic, and argued that the stream of Nintendo references left little room for character development. Some felt the film would mean little to anyone who wasn’t already a fan.

Audiences were again more forgiving. Cinema-goers gave it an “A−” CinemaScore, down slightly from the first film’s “A”. PostTrak recorded 79% positive scores, and the Rotten Tomatoes audience rating stands at 87%.

As of late October 2026 the film’s main awards so far are six nominations at the 2026 Kids’ Choice Awards, to be presented on 14 November 2026. They include Favourite Animated Movie, voice nominations for Anya Taylor-Joy, Brie Larson, Chris Pratt and Jack Black, and Favourite Villain for Black, who won that award for the first film. The major awards-season nominations, such as the Golden Globes, had not yet been announced.

Brian Tyler returned to compose the score, with Koji Kondo again consulting. Recorded with a 70-piece orchestra at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank between November 2025 and March 2026, it arranges themes from both Galaxy games, other Mario titles and, for Fox McCloud, the Star Fox series. The 24-track soundtrack album, running about 87 minutes, was released digitally on 1 April 2026 by Back Lot Music and iam8bit, with double-LP vinyl, CD and cassette editions scheduled for later in 2026.

Several songs heard in the film are not on the album, including “Egg Planet (Party Mix)” by Spencer Ludwig, a remix of Kondo’s Super Mario Galaxy track, as well as licensed tracks such as “Hypnotize” and “That’s Amore”. “Peaches” is also listed among the songs used. The album was generally well received, although opinions on how the score works within the film were more mixed: some critics enjoyed hearing the orchestra take centre stage, while others felt it relied too much on reworked game themes.

Unlike the first film, there is no new show-stopping Bowser ballad. Jack Black did, however, premiere a new Bowser song recapping the first movie from the villain’s point of view on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on 1 April 2026, release day. He performed it in costume, but the song does not feature in the film.

The film’s foundations come from Super Mario Galaxy. It opens at Rosalina’s Comet Observatory, with the Lumas, Star Bits and a Megaleg boss firing Bullet Bills, and the heroes visit the Honeyhive Galaxy and its Mandibugs. Lumalee from the first film returns. Giant Goombas recall the Supermassive Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2, the game in which Yoshi joins Mario in space.

The film reaches across the whole series, too. Wart, Birdo and Mouser come from Super Mario Bros. 2, and the Ukiki who steals Toad’s backpack recalls the cheeky monkeys of Super Mario 64 and Yoshi’s Island. Peach leaves Mario a letter that echoes the opening of Super Mario 64. Tostarena, the Moe-Eyes and a jazzy “Jump Up, Super Star!” in Wart’s casino all come from Super Mario Odyssey. Bowser Jr.’s magic paintbrush combines Super Mario Sunshine with Wonder Flower powers from Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Yoshi gobbles a red berry as in Super Mario World, and a pixel-style Bowser piñata at Peach’s party is modelled on the original Super Mario Bros. sprite.

The wider Nintendo universe gets a look in as well. Fox McCloud brings Star Fox into Mario’s world, R.O.B. staffs an information desk, a Super Scope makes an appearance, Captain Olimar’s ship lands at the Gateway Galaxy with Pikmin in tow, and Donkey Kong is glimpsed in the background. Miyamoto later told Famitsu that the film’s use of Fox and Yoshi led Nintendo to make new Star Fox and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book games for Nintendo Switch 2. Plenty more cameos are saved for the final act.

• The world premiere was held at the Minami-za, a historic theatre in Kyoto, the city where Nintendo has its headquarters, for an audience of Japanese fans chosen by lottery.
• Donald Glover voices Yoshi in every language version of the film, while the rest of the cast is re-recorded for each dub.
• Miyamoto told Famitsu that the team had considered a separate film about Yoshi getting into trouble in New York before folding him into this story.
• Fox McCloud’s involvement was kept secret until a few days before release; Glen Powell confirmed it himself with an Instagram video of himself in Fox cosplay.
• Star Fox’s original character designer, Takaya Imamura, said he was overwhelmed with emotion on learning that Fox would appear in a Mario film.
• The US release was moved forward from Friday 3 April to Wednesday 1 April 2026, so the film opened on the same day in the US and UK.
• It was the first 2026 release to cross $1 billion worldwide, reaching the milestone in its tenth weekend.
• Its five-day global opening of around $372.5 million came within about $5 million of the first film’s launch.
• Miyamoto said the film directly led to new Star Fox and Yoshi games, just as Princess Peach: Showtime! had been developed alongside the first film.
• Jack Black debuted a new Bowser song on The Tonight Show on release day, but it is not in the film.
• Wart, the villain of Super Mario Bros. 2, returns as a shady casino owner in the Gateway Galaxy.
• The home release includes a featurette called “Secrets of the Galaxy”, a guide to the film’s Nintendo Easter eggs.

Universal released the film to buy or rent digitally in the US on 19 May 2026, seven weeks after it opened in cinemas. The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD editions followed on 16 June 2026, and HMV lists the UK disc release for 20 July 2026. The extras run to more than an hour, including Next Level: Making The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the Easter egg guide Secrets of the Galaxy, and a look at Brian Tyler’s reworking of the game music. Some featurettes are exclusive to particular retailers.

In the US, the film began streaming on Peacock on 30 July 2026, alongside the first film. Under the same Universal–Netflix pay-TV deal that covered its predecessor, it is due to move to Netflix US on 30 November 2026, according to What’s on Netflix. As of October 2026, no date had been announced for subscription streaming in the UK.

As of October 2026, Nintendo, Illumination and Universal have not officially announced a third Mario film. An offhand remark by Jack Black in March 2026 suggesting a 2029 release was not a confirmation. Universal has dated an untitled Illumination–Nintendo animated film for 12 April 2028, which is widely rumoured, though not confirmed, to be a Donkey Kong spin-off. Miyamoto has said there are no plans for an all-star Nintendo crossover film. Its influence on Nintendo’s games, however, is already clear from Miyamoto’s comments about the new Star Fox and Yoshi titles.