Nintendo to Host Super Mario Galaxy Movie Direct This Weekend

It’s becoming increasingly rare for a Nintendo Direct to catch us off guard, especially with leakers often spilling the beans ahead of time. However, the latest announcement reveals a Direct scheduled for January 25 at 9 a.m. ET, which took me by surprise. While it’s disappointing that this Direct is focused solely on the Super Mario Galaxy Movie instead of the much-anticipated Switch 2 game updates, at least we’ll get to see Shigeru Miyamoto’s infectious enthusiasm.

Interestingly, January 25 falls on a Sunday, which is an unusual choice for a Direct. Most dedicated gamers and film journalists are likely still catching some Z’s at that hour, so expect some groggy coverage of the new footage and details leading up to the movie’s release on April 3.

Nintendo has announced that this Direct will provide “an exclusive look at The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” but has kept the details under wraps. So far, we’ve only glimpsed a limited amount of the film, primarily a scene featuring Mario and Luigi in a comical exchange with a pint-sized Bowser in his tiny castle. Aside from the introduction of Rosalina, there’s been surprisingly little revealed about a movie set to hit theaters in just over two months.

The original 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie may not have received glowing reviews, but it was a box office hit. Miyamoto even suggested that the negative feedback contributed to its success. With that in mind, Nintendo and Illumination seem confident about replicating that success with the sequel, which we hope will better utilize the fantastic Mario Galaxy setting compared to the first film’s mishmash of the Mushroom Kingdom.

After Sunday’s Direct, we can expect a significant uptick in promotional efforts for the animated movie, though it seems likely they’ll continue to minimize the use of Chris Pratt’s rather lackluster voice performance.