Overview
Okay, so. There's a rumor going around that Donkey Kong is getting his own movie, and I want to be upfront about something before we go any further: nobody official has said a word about this. Not Nintendo, not Illumination, not Universal. What we've got is a report, sourced through WDWNT back in April 2026, citing unnamed internal discussions about a third Nintendo film with Donkey Kong reportedly stepping into the lead role. That's it. That's the whole foundation this is built on. So treat everything below as speculation dressed up in a very convincing suit, because that's genuinely what it is.
Inside the Donkey Kong Film Rumor
Here's the thing about this Donkey Kong film chatter: it makes a certain kind of sense even without confirmation. Illumination and Universal already have a working relationship with Nintendo, they made The Super Mario Bros. Movie together in 2023, and that film made an absolutely obscene amount of money worldwide. Studios don't walk away from that kind of number. So the logic of "hey, what if we did another one, but with the big ape" tracks. But logic tracking and something actually being true are two very different animals, and right now this is firmly in rumor territory, no matter how many times it gets reposted with a "BREAKING" slapped on top.
A Possible 2028 Window
The same WDWNT report floated 2028 as a possible release year, again based on those internal discussions rather than any confirmed production schedule. I'm not going to pretend I know better than the report, but I will say this: film release dates shift ALL THE TIME, especially at this early, pre-greenlight stage where apparently even the project itself hasn't been publicly acknowledged. If this is real, 2028 is a reasonable enough guess given how long animated features take to actually get made. If it's not real, well, we'll all have a good laugh in a couple years. Either way, don't circle it on your calendar just yet.
Following in Mario's Footsteps
What makes this rumor stick in people's brains, mine included, is the Mario precedent. The Super Mario Bros. Movie wasn't just successful, it was the kind of successful that makes a studio's finance department start drafting sequel pitches before the credits finish rolling. Illumination and Universal proved they could take a Nintendo character, translate thirty-plus years of game logic into something that plays in a multiplex, and have both kids and grown nostalgic adults leave happy. Whether Donkey Kong gets the same treatment is unconfirmed, but if I'm being honest, he's a pretty logical next pick. He's already got name recognition, a rogues' gallery, and a soundtrack people will lose their minds over if it gets used right.
Where the Story Might Come From
Nothing about plot has been confirmed either, obviously, since the whole project itself hasn't been confirmed. But fans and commentators keep circling back to Donkey Kong Country, the 1994 SNES game developed by Rare, as the likely blueprint. And I get why. That game basically wrote the visual language everyone still associates with Donkey Kong: the jungle, the mine cart chases, the boss fights against the Kremlings. If a movie wanted a ready-made world to adapt, Donkey Kong Country is sitting right there with thirty years of established aesthetic doing half the work already. Would I love to see a minecart chase sequence rendered in whatever Illumination's animation pipeline looks like in 2028? Genuinely, yes. Am I certain that's what we're getting? Absolutely not. Keep your expectations loose here.
What Tone Could This Take
There's also speculation, and I want to stress AGAIN that this is speculation, that the film could lean into the tone Illumination already knows how to sell, the Minions and Despicable Me formula of family-friendly chaos that still lands jokes adults will actually laugh at. Add some nostalgic Easter eggs for the people who grew up mashing the Y button through the jungle levels, mix in some action set pieces, and you've got a pretty commercially safe shape for this thing to take. Is it the most exciting or original take? Not particularly. Would it probably work? Also yes. Studios don't reinvent the wheel when the wheel already made a billion dollars.
Where to Play Donkey Kong Country Today
While we all wait to see whether any of this becomes official, the good news is you don't need a movie to hang out with Donkey Kong. The original Donkey Kong Country from 1994 is available through Nintendo Switch Online's SNES library if your subscription tier includes it, and the modern trilogy entries, Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, are both playable on Switch, with Tropical Freeze getting a proper port and Returns getting an HD remaster. If you want the original experience exactly as Rare made it, secondhand SNES cartridges are still floating around if you've got the hardware, though your wallet might not love you for it. Honestly, replaying these before any potential movie news drops is basically homework I'd assign myself for fun.
Learning Japanese Through the Kong Franchise
Since this is jpnerd and we can't help ourselves, quick detour: if you're using games to pick up Japanese vocabulary, Donkey Kong is a surprisingly good teacher. In Japan, the original Donkey Kong Country was released as Super Donkey Kong, written in romaji as Supa Donkii Kongu, and the franchise is loaded with useful, repeatable words. ジャングル (Janguru, jungle) for jungle. 島 (Shima, island) for island, as in Kong Island. バナナ (Banana, banana), which, delightfully, sounds almost exactly like it does in English. It's low stakes, high repetition vocabulary, which honestly makes it a decent on-ramp if you're intimidated by more traditional study methods. Whatever happens with this rumored film, that side of the franchise isn't going anywhere.
