Famed movie star Chris Pratt recently sat down with ET and discussed a wide variety of topics, one of which being the monumental success of the Super Mario Bros Movie and what was next for the franchise; it was here that Pratt, as transcribed by ET, teased that "news about a sequel to the film should be coming soon."
A surprising tidbit no doubt, given that the movie released only a tad over two months ago. You definitely shouldn't expect a substantial trailer soon or even a teaser trailer, but it's very possible that the movie's widespread appeal made the executives at Illumination and Nintendo quickly decide to greenlight future projects. Thus, it could be that they're willing to make some sort of simple announcement about what's coming next, not unlike what Marvel has done with their extended timelines.
There is, however, something that's holding this announcement back, and that's the ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA). The WGA strike began in early May, and it still shows no signs of stopping. TV and movie writers have several demands which have yet to be met, such as better residuals, bigger writers' rooms, and just, in general, higher pay.
Nearly all United States writers have some sort of connection to the WGA, or, at the least, act in solidarity with them, so the strike essentially means that there are no professional writers to write TV shows and movies at all. This has already affected numerous TV shows, many of which have ceased production completely until the writers' demands have been met.
"Everything has been paused and [put] on hold," Pratt explained, "for the right reasons." Pratt expressed his support for the writers and stated that when they "feel comfortable moving forward, then it'll be time to start talking about what's next for [the Mario movie]."
If Nintendo decides to continue making movies, another Mario installment would be the safest bet, but it will be interesting to see if Nintendo takes advantage of some of its other IP. When it came to the Mario movie's success, Pratt stated, in part, "We're so grateful for the support... I expected that people would love it the way I was excited about it, but it's truly multigenerational around the world."