In an interview, he noted that films help strengthen the brand and preserve Nintendo's stories for future generations.
«Games eventually stop working with the release of new versions, but films remain forever.»
Films allow maintaining a connection with characters and worlds, even when games are out of rotation, which reflects the company's intention to develop transmedia storytelling and adapt franchises for a global audience.
Nintendo's cinematic strategy started with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" (2023), created with Illumination. The film showed Mario and Luigi in the Mushroom Kingdom, grossing $1.36 billion, becoming the highest-grossing film based on a game and the second-highest-grossing film in 2023.
Nintendo has confirmed a sequel to "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" (April 3, 2026) and the first live-action project "The Legend of Zelda" (May 7, 2027, with Sony Pictures). Also in development is an animated film Donkey Kong: Nintendo and Universal registered "Untitled Donkey Kong Project; Motion picture", confirming a separate film for the character voiced by Seth Rogen.