Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has shared updates on the company’s growing plans for movies and video content based on its game franchises. In a recent interview with Kyoto Shimbun, Furukawa discussed upcoming projects including The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, scheduled for an April release, and the live-action Legend of Zelda movie coming in 2027.
Furukawa explained that Nintendo wants to stay closely involved in making these movies from the start. The company applies the same careful attention to detail in films and products as it does with games.
“Through this consistent approach, we gradually earn customer trust, which ultimately leads not just to awareness of our characters, but ultimately turns them into fans,” Furukawa said.
He added that while short-term profits matter, the main goal is getting Nintendo characters in front of more people beyond games. Movies help reach audiences in areas where game consoles aren’t as common. The company hopes to keep making films after the current two projects.
Furukawa also mentioned the recent “Close to You” Pikmin animated shorts made by Nintendo Pictures, the company’s video production team. Nintendo bought the Japanese studio Dynamo Pictures in 2022 and renamed it Nintendo Pictures to create visual content using Nintendo characters.
The decision to buy the studio came while The Super Mario Bros Movie was being made. Nintendo realized having its own team to create videos beyond theater movies would help spread awareness of its characters.
“We recently released two short videos featuring Pikmin characters, and observing the response we sensed the potential for future video content development,” Furukawa said.
He noted that unlike games, which can become unplayable when new hardware comes out, good video content can be watched for years across different platforms.
When asked about making an anime series based on Nintendo properties—similar to Pokémon or past shows like the Kirby anime from 2001—Furukawa said it would be challenging. However, he didn’t rule it out completely, saying that if Nintendo could “create distinctive works that are unique to Nintendo,” it could be worth pursuing in the long term.




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