A Donkey Kong movie may be in the works according to new documents, and it's official: 2025 is the year of DK

Super Mario Bros. Movie — (Image credit: Nintendo)

Hang onto your bananas because DK is coming back to the big screen, as it looks like there is a Donkey Kong movie on the way.

That’s right, it seems like the crazed monkey is finally getting his own movie as some eagle-eyed Nintendo fans on Resetera have found that Universal Pictures has registered a movie with US Copyright titled 'Untitled Donkey Kong Project; Motion picture,' on the Public Records System. The movie has Nintendo Studios LLC and Universal Pictures listed as involved parties. Nintendo fan account Wario64 has since posted a screenshot of the listing on Twitter. Check it out below.

"Untitled Donkey Kong Project ; Motion picture" US Copyright registered by Universal Pictures https://t.co/iOWSksyNTkhttps://t.co/gMc7HP8KlC pic.twitter.com/liG1znqC8jJuly 13, 2025

This comes just 10 days after Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company plans to expand "the number of people who have access to Nintendo IP," adding, "visual content is one such area." The statement seemed quite cryptic at the time. However, now we know what such 'visual content' Furukawa was alluding to. As well as a DK project, Nintendo also has a Super Mario Bros. Movie sequel in the works, as well as a live-action Legend of Zelda movie.

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Donkey Kong has been part of Nintendo’s Super Mario franchise for almost 45 years, appearing in such games as Mario Kart, Super Mario Party Jamboree, as well as many Kong spin-offs. We saw DK make his big-screen debut in the 2023 animated movie Super Mario Bros. Movie, voiced by Seth Rogen. However, it is not clear at this point whether Rogan will return to play the cheeky monkey.

A DK movie is just the icing on the cake for Kong. The fan-favorite character is having quite the year, with the highly anticipated upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game, Donkey Kong Bananza, coming out on July 17, 2025. The game follows Kong and Pauline as they set out to recover stolen banana diamonds from a gang of evil apes.

For more upcoming movies, check out our guide to all the upcoming video game adaptations you need to know about.

I'm the Junior Social Media Editor here at GamesRadar+, handling all of Total Film's social platforms. However, I also write, covering all things film and TV for the site's entertainment section. I joined GamesRadar+ in 2023 and have been here ever since. I previously worked in communications after graduating with an MA in journalism. In my spare time, you can find me binging horror movies or getting lost in a cosy little game on my Switch.