The Super Mario Bros. Movie was a massive breakout success for Nintendo’s film division, earning $1.36 billion at the worldwide box office. The sequel film, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, was nearly as successful, earning $968 million worldwide. It’s clear that not only will Nintendo and Universal Pictures continue with the Super Mario film franchise, but that an entire Smash Bros. franchise universe is being built around it.

With those grand plans in the works, it should be no surprise that Super Mario Movie 3 would be fast-tracked by Nintendo and Universal, especially given how the second film left things. And thanks to one of the stars of the Mario movie franchise, we now have a definitive release date window for the threequel.

Super Mario Bros. Movie Star Explains Long Wait For the Threequel

Keegan-Michael Key has starred in the Super Mario Bros. Movie and Super Mario Galaxy Movie as Toad, the loyal Mushroom Kingdom citizen who acts as the right-hand man to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Key sat down with Screen Rant to talk about the digital release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and what will come after. The actor felt the need to apologize to fans in advance, since the wait between Super Mario Movie 2 and Super Mario Movie 3 will be the same stretch of time that they endured between the first and second film.

“We want to get it right. We want to get everything right. We want to get all the details right. And Michael and Aaron, who are our directors, have a real passion for this,” Keegan-Michael Key explained. “I think they’re as passionate about these projects as the audience is. And so we got to get it right, we got to get it right. So I apologize. But it’ll be worth the wait. It’ll be worth the wait…’29 is better than sometime, right?”

So, The Super Mario Bros. Movie 3 will apparently be aiming for release in 2029. That would be a three-year gap between the second and third films, just like there was a three-year gap between the first and second films.

What Will The Super Mario Bros. Movie 3 Be About?

So far, there’s no confirmation on what the third film will be – but fans certainly have their preferences. The biggest thing on the wishlist is to see Mario and Luigi’s evil counterparts, Wario and Waluigi, make their movie debut, which would, admittedly, be a fitting “event” for the threequel.

There’s also the expanding lore about Princesses Peach and Daisy (Brie Larson), which is a significant change from the games. We also don’t know if Nintendo’s live-action Legend of Zelda movie or the Star Fox spinoff project will also tie into the third film.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now available on digital. You can stream the first film on Peacock. Discuss the future of Nintendo movies with us on the ComicBook Forum!