Nintendo has confirmed it plans to keep making movies beyond the live-action Legend of Zelda film, cementing cinema as an ongoing pillar of the company rather than a one-off experiment.

The signal isn't exactly shocking. The animated Super Mario movie turned into a global box-office phenomenon, and the Zelda adaptation — due in theaters on April 30, 2027 — shows the company is comfortable stretching from animation into live action. With that project already deep in production, Nintendo is making clear the pipeline won't stop there.

The open question is which franchise gets the call next. Nintendo's back catalog is stacked with film-ready properties, from Donkey Kong and Kirby to Metroid and Pokemon's console-adjacent universe, and the company has historically been selective about who touches its characters. What's changed is the posture: after years of guarding its IP from Hollywood following the 1990s Mario misfire, Nintendo now sees film as a reliable way to pull new audiences toward its games and hardware. Expect announcements to follow the Zelda release rather than precede it — but expect them.