Nintendo Stars Inc. takes the lead on film tie-ins as Warpstar becomes a fully owned Nintendo subsidiary

30 August 2025
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9 min.
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Nintendo Stars Inc. takes the lead on film tie-ins as Warpstar becomes a fully owned Nintendo subsidiary

Summary:

Nintendo has rebranded Warpstar, Inc.—the long-running Kirby IP management venture founded with HAL Laboratory—into Nintendo Stars Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary tasked with the “ancillary-use” business tied to films that feature Nintendo’s worlds and characters. That phrase covers the real-world ecosystem around theatrical releases: licensing, merchandise, live events, in-theater activations, and collaborations that keep momentum going before and after opening weekend. The change follows Warpstar’s consolidation as of April 1, 2025, locking in a clearer structure ahead of two dated pictures: a new Super Mario Bros. animated film set for April 3, 2026, and a live-action Legend of Zelda scheduled for May 7, 2027. We break down what Nintendo Stars actually does, how it differs from Nintendo Pictures (the production-focused studio built from the Dynamo Pictures acquisition), why this move matters for partners and fans, and how Kirby’s history with Warpstar fits into the picture without promising films that don’t exist yet. Expect sharper, better-coordinated launches where the on-screen story flows into events, products, and experiences you can see, wear, or attend.

Nintendo Stars Inc. at a glance

Nintendo Stars Inc. is the new name for Warpstar, the Kirby-focused venture created with HAL Laboratory in 2001. As of April 1, 2025, it became a consolidated, wholly owned subsidiary and, on August 27, 2025, it received a new mandate and a new name. The job is straightforward to describe and powerful in practice: own the “ancillary-use” side of films that feature Nintendo IP. Think of the movie as the spark; Nintendo Stars is the team that fans encounter everywhere else—events, retail aisles, limited drops, and themed experiences that stretch excitement beyond the credits. By centralizing that work, Nintendo can line up rollouts with precision across regions, partners, and timelines.

The role within Nintendo’s film push

Movies create giant cultural waves, but it’s the orbit around them that turns one weekend into a long-tail phenomenon. Nintendo Stars exists to shape that orbit. The group will develop and license projects that take characters and worlds from the films and bring them into live events, promotional campaigns, premium collectibles, and family-friendly touchpoints. It complements Nintendo’s core gaming pipeline rather than replacing it, aiming to grow audience reach while keeping brand tone intact. Expect coordinated beats synced to trailers, cast reveals, and release windows, so every public moment has something fans can do, join, or bring home.

Why Warpstar became Nintendo Stars and the April 2025 consolidation

Warpstar began life as a joint venture in 2001 to manage the Kirby IP across animation and licensing, famously tied to the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! TV series. Over two decades, the company handled approvals and partnerships that kept the pink puffball present in stores and media worldwide. In 2025, Nintendo pulled that expertise fully in-house, consolidating Warpstar on April 1 and renaming it Nintendo Stars on August 27. The rebrand signals a broader remit than one franchise and aligns the business with Nintendo’s expanding theatrical slate, making it clear to partners who calls the shots on film-adjacent deals.

Foundation in 2001 and Kirby roots

It’s worth remembering how deep the roots go. The original Warpstar structure brought Nintendo and HAL Laboratory together to manage Kirby’s off-game life. That included handling character guidelines, quality checks, and licensing across regions—muscle memory that matters when you scale to multiple films. Those processes, refined over years of Kirby projects, now underpin Nintendo Stars. The expertise shifts from one hero to many, but the quality bar and brand guardianship remain the same, which helps explain Nintendo’s confidence in taking this step before two of its biggest theatrical releases yet.

How Nintendo Stars differs from Nintendo Pictures

Nintendo Pictures is the production-focused studio built from the acquisition of Dynamo Pictures in 2022. Its core mission: plan and produce visual works featuring Nintendo’s characters and worlds. Nintendo Stars, by contrast, sits downstream from the screen, translating cinematic moments into real-world activations. One crafts the moving images; the other ensures those images ripple through concerts, pop-ups, collaborations, and merchandise lines. Separating responsibilities like this helps both teams specialize: production can obsess over story and craft, while Nintendo Stars choreographs the business and experiential layers that surround release day.

Where licensing ends and production begins

The clean line runs through decision-making. If the task involves making the film itself—casting, shots, animation, VFX, stunt teams—that’s in production’s house. If the task involves how that film shows up in the world—what’s on shelves, what event tour supports the premiere, which limited edition sneakers drop with an IMAX fan screening—that’s Nintendo Stars. The two collaborate constantly, because designs, logos, and scenes must align. But by assigning a primary owner to each side, approvals move faster and partners know exactly where to plug in.

How both teams will cooperate on campaigns

Expect joint planning calendars built around milestones like teaser debuts, full trailers, ticket-on-sale dates, and press junkets. Nintendo Pictures can provide early asset packs—poses, typography, color keys—while Nintendo Stars maps them to product timelines and event logistics. The result is a laddered campaign where each reveal unlocks something tangible: a new poster leads to a capsule merch drop; a behind-the-scenes featurette anchors a museum exhibit; a cast Q&A pairs with a fan challenge at retail. Done right, the story on screen and the story in stores feel like one continuous beat.

What “ancillary use” means in plain terms

In industry language, “ancillary” covers everything that radiates from a film—project development, licensing, and management of live events and merchandise included. For families, it shows up as meet-and-greets, themed concerts, snack tie-ins, and displays at theaters. For collectors, it’s limited edition figures and premium apparel launches. For communities, it could be pop-up quests, city takeovers, or museum partnerships that celebrate art and music from the film. Nintendo Stars is the steward that makes sure these things happen on brand, on schedule, and with a level of charm that fits the characters involved.

Examples: live events, merch, in-theater promos, park tie-ins

Picture a launch month with theater lobbies transformed into playable dioramas, soundtrack performances at fan expos, and QR-powered scavenger hunts that unlock poster variants. Add retailer midnight openings with stamp cards for exclusive pins, plus capsule lines at fashion partners that mirror hero color palettes. In regions with park attractions or temporary exhibits, Nintendo Stars can coordinate seasonal overlays or limited-time activations tied to the film’s scenes. The through-line isn’t volume—it’s cohesion, so each piece reinforces a clear visual identity and a crisp message about the adventure on screen.

Impact on current film slate: Mario 2026 and Zelda 2027

The near-term test cases are already circled on calendars. A new animated Super Mario Bros. film lands April 3, 2026, and the live-action Legend of Zelda follows on May 7, 2027. With Nintendo Stars in place, both releases benefit from a single point of contact for worldwide tie-ins and events. That should help synchronize regional campaigns, reduce duplicated work, and give partners earlier visibility into what assets and approvals they’ll need. For fans, the payoff is a steadier drumbeat from teaser to premiere to home release, with fewer gaps where buzz usually fades.

What changes for marketing and rollouts

We should see smarter pacing. Trailer day can become “activation day” with pop-ups, ticket perks, and first-wave apparel aligned across markets. As tickets go on sale, Nintendo Stars can seed theater-only bonuses—exclusive art cards, mini-posters, or collectible coins—supported by social challenges that encourage group showings. Post-launch, the team can extend the arc with traveling exhibits, concert suites, and charity collaborations that keep the movie present while games and updates carry the baton back on the interactive side.

What this signals for Kirby’s future

Kirby fans will notice the poetry: the company that learned its craft by caring for Kirby now carries a mandate across all films. That doesn’t automatically mean a Kirby movie is on the slate, and expectations should reflect that. What it does mean is that Kirby’s licensing know-how remains core to the strategy, and whenever Kirby appears in campaigns around future pictures, the approvals and quality checks will feel as tight as longtime fans expect. If a Kirby theatrical project ever emerges, Nintendo Stars would be perfectly positioned to build the surrounding experiences at speed.

Managing expectations: no Kirby film announced

It’s easy for excitement to outrun facts. As of now, there is no announced Kirby film. The confirmed dated features are Mario 2026 and Zelda 2027, and those will command attention. The value for Kirby today is indirect: expertise earned over decades of licensing and animation oversight now strengthens how Nintendo handles every film tie-in. Fans can celebrate the recognition of that history without reading promises that haven’t been made.

What partners and licensees should prepare

For licensees, Nintendo Stars simplifies contact points but raises the bar. Partners should expect clearer briefs, stricter timelines, and asset packs that arrive earlier in the cycle. The approvals process will likely emphasize consistency across regions: typography rules, color hierarchies, and character usage that align with the film’s final look. The upside is obvious—products reach shelves closer to key dates, with fewer last-minute changes. The trade-off is discipline: hit spec, hit dates, and build in time for feedback rounds so the finished work earns that coveted stamp of approval.

Approval pipelines and brand rules

A strong pipeline starts with a shared calendar and a single source of truth for assets. Partners should plan for staged approvals—concept, pre-production sample, final production sign-off—each tied to visual guidelines and legal checks. Expect guidance on sustainability and safety standards as well, given the family audience and global distribution involved. When those boxes are ticked early, launches feel effortless for shoppers and theater-goers, even though months of coordination made it possible.

How fans will feel the difference on day one

From the outside, the change shows up as polish. Ticket preorders unlock perks that don’t feel random. Opening weekend activations extend beyond one photo wall into layered experiences, from cosplay corners to music moments to hands-on mini-games that hint at scenes without giving them away. Merch drops feel curated, not crowded, with a few hero items that tell the story at a glance. The goal is to make premiere week feel like a festival, the weeks after feel like an encore, and the memories feel worth keeping long after the lights come up.

Risks, limits, and how Nintendo avoids overexposure

There’s always a risk of flooding the market with too much, too fast. The smarter path is selectivity: choose partners who can deliver quality at scale and experiences that match the film’s tone. Another risk is timeline slippage—films move, which can ripple into supply chains. Centralized planning helps here, with flexible windows and contingency assets designed to pivot if a date shifts. Finally, restraint matters. Not every scene needs a product; not every character needs a capsule. The magic lands when the right ideas breathe and the rest quietly pass.

Timeline recap and what happens next

The quick recap looks like this: the venture founded in 2001 to steward Kirby’s world became a fully consolidated Nintendo subsidiary on April 1, 2025; on August 27, 2025, it was renamed Nintendo Stars Inc. with a clear mandate to run ancillary-use business tied to films. Ahead lie two anchors—Mario in April 2026 and Zelda in May 2027—giving Nintendo Stars immediate, high-profile canvases to prove out the model. Between now and those premieres, expect steady hiring, partner onboarding, and a rising tempo of coordinated beats as trailers, assets, and events begin to roll.

Key takeaways

Nintendo didn’t just rename a company; it clarified how cinematic storytelling connects to real-world experiences. Nintendo Pictures focuses on what’s on screen; Nintendo Stars focuses on everything you can see and do around it. The Kirby legacy supplies craft and discipline; the film slate supplies scale. If you’re a partner, the path is simpler. If you’re a fan, the launches should feel richer. And if you’re watching for what’s next, the signs point to smarter, more joyful rollouts that keep the fun going long after the credits.

Conclusion

Nintendo Stars Inc. brings twenty-plus years of Kirby-honed licensing expertise to a bigger stage, giving Mario 2026 and Zelda 2027 a single, globally aligned engine for events, merchandise, and collaborations. By separating production from tie-ins—and putting a specialist team in charge of the latter—Nintendo sets up cleaner approvals, faster timelines, and fan experiences that feel cohesive rather than scattered. It’s a pragmatic move with obvious upside: fewer silos, clearer ownership, and a better chance that every beat around a film lands with the charm people expect from these worlds.

FAQs
  • What exactly does Nintendo Stars Inc. do? — It manages film-adjacent initiatives using Nintendo IP, including licensing, merchandise, live events, and other projects that extend the impact of theatrical releases beyond the screen.
  • Is Nintendo Stars making the movies? — No. Production lives with Nintendo Pictures and external partners. Nintendo Stars focuses on the experiences and products that surround the films.
  • Was Warpstar fully acquired? — Yes. The venture was consolidated as a wholly owned Nintendo subsidiary effective April 1, 2025, and renamed Nintendo Stars on August 27, 2025.
  • Are Mario and Zelda the only confirmed films? — They are the two dated films: an animated Mario set for April 3, 2026, and a live-action Zelda scheduled for May 7, 2027. Other projects may exist but have not been announced with dates.
  • Does this mean a Kirby film is coming? — Not currently. Kirby’s legacy informs Nintendo Stars’ expertise, but no Kirby film has been announced. If that changes, Nintendo Stars would handle the surrounding experiences.
Sources
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