Nintendo is bringing big changes to one of its subsidiaries, starting with its name. Warpstar, which has overseen the Kirby franchise since its founding in 2001, is being rebranded into Nintendo Stars Inc. in an effort to produce film more film adaptations of its popular games.
In a press release published on Wednesday, Nintendo said that Warpstar, which was consolidated into the company on April 1, 2025, has been restructured to a department that is responsible for “ancillary-use business tied to films that feature Nintendo Intellectual Property (IP).”
In layperson terms, ancillary means that Nintendo Star Inc. will expand film adaptations of Nintendo’s popular video game franchises to other mediums, such as merchandising, licensing, live events, and project development, just to name a few.
Basically, Nintendo Star Inc. is not a film studio as its name suggests. It’s just another department for Nintendo to handle the marketing of its IP to introduce more people around the world to the family-friendly brand. As such, we’ll see merchandise and events based on the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, due out April 3, 2026, and the live-action adaptation of The Legend of Zelda, which will be released in theaters May 7, 2027.
Nintendo Stars will continue overseeing the expansion of the Kirby franchise into other mediums, too. We already saw Kirby: Right Back at Ya! on TV more than 20 years ago. Could we see a Kirby film any time soon? We’re not sure, but at least we got Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World on Nintendo Switch 2 to tide us over.
