PJ Masks and the World of Light

PJ Masks and the World of Light is a 2026 Japanese-American-French-Canadian computer-animated superhero action-adventure fighting crossover film serving as a crossover between the animated superhero children's television series PJ Masks, which is based on the Pyjamasques book series created by Romuald Racioppo, and the World of Light story mode of the videogame Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is the fifth game in the Super Smash Bros. franchise created by Masahiro Sakurai. Produced by Illumination, Frog Box, Bandai Namco Entertainment, TeamTO, Sora Ltd., France Télévisions, Monkeypaw Productions, and Lord Miller Productions and distributed by Nintendo and Entertainment One, the film was directed by Sakurai and Wilson Dos Santos from a screenplay by Marc Seal and the screenwriting duo of Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely and serves as the series finale to PJ Masks: Power Heroes and the series premiere of PJ Masks x Super Smash Bros.: The Subspace Emissary, as well as the standalone sequel to Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle (2020) and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and the prequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024). In the film, we follow Owlette and Kirby as they venture out to rescue the rest of the PJ Masks characters and Super Smash Bros. roster after they have been kidnapped and unwillingly made into Spirit-controlled slaves at the hands of Galeem. The ensemble voice cast consists of Addison Holley, Makiko Ohmoto, Jacob Ewanuik, Chris Pratt, Kyle Harrison Bretikopft, Seth Rogen, Emily Thorne, Timothée Chalamet, Brianna D'Aguanno, Scarlett Johansson, Trek Buccino, Kazumi Totaka, Shechinah Mpumlwana, Kaden Smith, Ethan Pugiotto, Michela Luci, Tom Cruise, Ikue Ōtani, Charlie Day, Tara Strong, Daniel Pathan, Logan Nicholson, Max Calinescu, Kari Wong, Hattie Kragten, Dwayne Johnson, Rachael Lillis, Anya Taylor-Joy, Kristen Schaal, Jack Black, Shomoy James Mitchell, Nylan Parthipan, Zoe Hatz, Michaela Mohamud, Markeda McKay, Wyatt White, Emma and Ian Ho, Jessica DiCicco, Georgie Kidder, Elizabeth Olsen, Hynden Walch, Charles Martinet, Satomi Koorogi, Robert Downey Jr., Scott Chambers, Matt Folliot, Ron Pardo, Kimiko Glenn, Christian Convery, Keith David, Dan Green, Ray Chase, Sebastian Stan, Tom Kenny, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, Danny DeVito, David Hayter, Michael Kovach, Sarah Natochenny, Billy Bob Thompson, Michele Knotz, Shin-ichiro Miki, Eric Bauza, Noah Schnapp, Ben Schwartz, John Mulaney, Tom Hanks, Sean Schemmel, Paul Bettany, Greg Cipes, Johnny Depp, Yuri Lowenthal, Emma Stone, Cate Blanchett, Juliet Jelenic, Mark Ruffalo, Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Brandy Kopp, Patton Oswalt, Tye Sheridan, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Logan Thirtyacre, Frank Welker, Hugh Jackman, Brad Pitt, Josh Hutcherson, Peyton List, Helena Bonham Carter, McKenna Grace, Pierce Gagnon, Idris Elba, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, John C. Reilly, Liliana Mumy, Tyler Bunch, Anne Hathaway, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
The film was announced in October 2022 as PJ Masks and Super Smash Bros. Unite. Sakurai and Santos came on board to direct in April 2023, and a month later Seal, Markus and McFeely signed on to write the script for the film, which adapts elements and takes inspiration from the then upcoming Power Heroes season of PJ Masks and the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate story mode, World of Light. Because of this, Nintendo, Illumination, Entertainment One and Frog Box changed the title to PJ Masks and the World of Light in 2024. Production began in January 2025 with Illumination Studios Paris and Wētā FX providing the animation and visual effects and a large cast comprised on many actors reprising their roles from their respective franchises and a few new additions, including Hathaway and Cumberbatch as Galeem and Dharkon, respectively. The production lasted until July 2025, being produced and animated back-to-back with The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2 (2027). Additional animation and visual effects were handled by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Marza Animation Planet, Mikros Image, Blur Studio, and Animal Logic. With a production budget of $683.4 million, PJ Masks and the World of Light is both the most expensive animated film ever made and the most expensive film made overall. It is also the longest animated movie and one of the longest theatrically released, non-experimental films ever made, with a total runtime of seven hours (420 minutes), as well as the film from Illumination with the most animators working on it, with a total of 230.
PJ Masks and the World of Light held its red-carpet premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on May 3, 2026, and was theatrically released worldwide by Nintendo and Entertainment One on May 6, making it the first Illumination to neither be produced nor distributed by Universal. Within its first week in cinemas, the film already garnered universal acclaim from critics, audiences, moviegoers, and longtime fans of, newcomers to and even haters of both the PJ Masks and Super Smash Bros. franchises for its voice performances (especially Holley, Ohmoto, Pratt and Hathaway) and Sakurai and Santos' direction, as well as receiving similar praise for its pacing, screenplay, soundtrack, balance of humor and emotional weight, themes, worldbuilding, atmosphere, faithfulness to the source materials, and particularly for its consistent entertainment value despite the seven-hour runtime and the darker, more mature tone it has compared to its source materials and Illumination's previous films, although its aforementioned seven-hour runtime received criticism from some. It has broke numerous box office records, becoming the first animated film to gross over $2 billion and having the most successful opening weekend for an animated film among other records, and has won seven out of eleven Academy Awards, including Best Director for both Sakurai and Santos and Best Animated Film to name a few, and three Golden Globes, including one for Best Original Song for its original song The Fight Burns On by Tones & I and John Legend, among numerous other accolades.