Don’t expect any more Nintendo movies any time soon, says Shigeru Miyamoto

With the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in theaters, gamers are keen to know if this 2023 animated film brought back enough confidence for Nintendo to release more movies using its IP. Unfortunately, the future for more Nintendo-themed movies doesn’t look so bright.

Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Super Mario franchise and producer of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, spoke about the future of Nintendo movies during an interview with Game Informer. According to Miyamoto, despite the video game company launching Nintendo Pictures to produce content outside of gaming, he has no plans to announce anything new anytime soon. This is mostly due to him ensuring that people would enjoy and focus on The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and not worry about anything else.

“You probably know that we have Nintendo Pictures now as a group. Whenever we create games, that’s one form of content. And when we create animation, that’s another form of content. And we want to continue to expand the amount of content that we can produce. In terms of announcing or sharing anything, I try to hold off until there’s something really good and enjoyable. So, there’s probably nothing to announce in the near future, so I ask you to put all your focus in this movie currently.”

But just because Miyamoto has nothing to announce doesn’t mean that this is the end of Nintendo’s attempts to produce more titles. The video game director shared his philosophy on what makes video game movies great and believes that both the film’s and video game’s creative teams should work together if film studios plan to make screen adaptations to existing video game titles.

“On our end, we’re really busy creating games, so on the one side, we kind of feel like, “I’ve got someone else to make the movies because we’re really busy.” But at the same time, it’s really important that the people who understand the important aspects of the game are part of that movie creative team so they have a really deep understanding of the important aspects of what makes the game the game it is, and also they have the skills and know-how to create movies. I think that’s what’s important.

“When you have a team of people who feel that way and who have that experience, they can have the discussions that are really necessary to create a movie that can only be from this game. What I mean by that is that sometimes, I think it might be easy to assume that as long as we follow the beats across the span of a game, an enjoyable movie should be created. It’s kind of a naïve way of thinking.”

Fortunately, some of the stars of The Super Mario Bros. Movie have expressed interest in reprising their roles for a future sequel or spin-off. Seth Rogen, who played Donkey Kong in the film, said he’s down to star in a Donkey Kong Country solo film. Meanwhile, Bowser’s Jack Black wants to see a “revenge arc” for the King of the Koopas if Mario were to come back to the big screen.

Nintendo worked closely with Illumination during the production of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While the film currently sits on an average critics score of 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has received high praise from audiences, earning an average score of 96 percent.