Nintendo has restructured and rebranded a division that is now dedicated to developing films featuring the company’s characters, such as Mario and Zelda.
Now titled Nintendo Stars, the subsidiary is tasked with “implementing and licensing various ancillary uses in films” of Nintendo intellectual property, the company announced today, in order to “familiarize people around the world with Nintendo IP and provide new ways to experience it.”
Nintendo Stars was previously known as Warpstar, and was originally a joint venture between Nintendo and Kirby developer HAL Laboratory, the former home of Super Smash Bros. series boss Masahiro Sakurai. Founded in 2001, its initial purpose was to manage the Kirby franchise as it expanded beyond games into anime, beginning with the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! series that ran for 100 episodes.
Now, with the successful release of Super Mario Bros. Movie under its belt, Nintendo is keen to build on its big screen output. Nintendo bought out HAL Laboratory’s half of Nintendo Stars earlier this year, making it a wholly-owned subsidiary, and looks to have bigger plans for the division going forward.
Currently, Nintendo has announced it has two films in production. There’s the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel, due to arrive on April 3, 2026, as well as the live-action The Legend of Zelda movie due to be released on May 7, 2027.
Nintendo has kept very quiet about the Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel despite its launch being just seven months away, but as Super Mario Bros.’ 40th anniversary approaches and reports of a major September Nintendo Direct spread, fans may not have too much longer to wait for a first glimpse.
As for the Zelda movie, we recently learned the identity of the two actors playing Link and Princess Zelda, though detail on the film’s plot and wider cast remain under wraps.
Beyond these, what might Nintendo adapt next? A Metroid sci-fi horror movie in the style of Alien? A romantic comedy starring Animal Crossing villagers? Or just more spin-offs of the Mario movie — including that long-rumored Donkey Kong project? We’ll have to wait and see.
Alongside its work developing big screen Nintendo movie adaptations, Nintendo Stars will also continue licensing Kirby for other projects, the company also noted. Maybe there’s more Kirby anime episodes to come?
Nintendo Stars is not to be confused with Nintendo Pictures, the company’s motion capture and animation studio that previously worked on a number of video games and CGI movies — including, bizarrely, Death Stranding 2.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
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