Summary

• Chris Pratt teases that there's plenty of video game source material for The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 to explore.
• The actor expresses interest in seeing a "Nintendo cinematic universe" with exciting crossover projects.
• The major success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in theaters means that the sequel is likely just the beginning of a much larger franchise.

Chris Pratt comments on The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 and how the sequel will further explore a larger universe of Nintendo properties. Based on the iconic Nintendo video game character, the first Super Mario Bros. Movie from Illumination Entertainment hit theaters in 2023, becoming one of the biggest box office hits of the year. It didn't take long for confirmation to arrive that Pratt would reprise his role as Mario for a sequel, which is expected to release in spring 2026.

In a recent interview with Screen Rant, Pratt teases what's to come from the announced Super Mario Bros. Movie 2. According to the actor, there's plenty of room for franchise expansion, with a whole interconnected cinematic universe of Nintendo characters potentially on the way. Check out Pratt's full comment below:

"Oh, man! There's so much to explore. There are decades worth of [games] to explore, not only with Mario and Peach and Donkey Kong and Luigi and Bowser and Yoshi; that was teased at the end. But it just gets me so excited. I was such a Nintendo head growing up, so just thinking about how everything from Legend of Zelda to the entire Nintendo cinematic universe could be created and what that could look like for all of these characters that I love? I mean, there's really no limit. We could talk about it for hours."

The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 Could Be Just The Beginning

The First Movie's Success Paves The Way For A Larger Nintendo Cinematic Universe

The Super Mario Bros. video game franchise is truly beloved, and, as Pratt suggests, the last 40 years have seen the introduction of dozens of characters, worlds, and storylines across dozens of individual titles. The Illumination adaptation, then, which was directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, was always positioned to do well, but the film exceeded expectations in a major way. The Super Mario Bros. Movie's box office capped out at a staggering $1.36 billion worldwide.

In addition to Pratt, The Super Mario Bros. Movie features the voice acting talents of Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Seth Rogen, Keegan-Michael Key, and Fred Armisen.

Although The Super Mario Bros. Movie's reviews were mixed from critics, the reception from general audiences was far more positive. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a lackluster critics' score of 59%, but the audience score is glowing at 95%. There's clearly a desire from general movie-goers then to see the beloved video game franchise continue to expand on the big screen, and the sequel is now poised to become another major box office sensation.

In addition to more sequels, the positive reception to the first film means that spinoff movies in a larger Nintendo cinematic universe could also be on the way. While there's a risk that such aggressive franchise expansion will dilute the brand and make new theatrical releases a little less special, the many successful installments in Illumination's Minions franchise suggests that family audiences could continue to show up for new releases for years to come. It remains to be seen what The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 has in store for audiences, but it may be the first of many sequels.