Naruto is a legendary shonen series that began its run originally as a manga in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump. The story has since gone global with its massive anime adaptation by Studio Pierrot. Sadly, Naruto’s manga ended in 2014, and its anime wrapped up 9 years ago, in 2017. Since then, the only ongoing project for the series has been its sequel, Boruto, which not all fans approve of.
Now, however, Naruto's return has been officially confirmed. As announced via Variety on September 10, 2026, the original anime featuring Naruto Uzumaki is set to return soon. At the Naruto panel at New York Comic Con 2026, a new animated movie for Naruto is set to be announced. We don’t know yet what this movie will be about, but its implications are going to be huge for the IP as we know it. Naruto already has a live-action movie in pre-production, but a bigger and better project is now on the way.
Naruto is a story by Masashi Kishimoto that was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump between September 21, 1999, and November 10, 2014. The immense success of the series has led it to become one of the best-selling manga of all time, and yet, despite its overwhelming popularity, the series has been laying low for quite a few years now. Since 2017, when its anime by Studio Pierrot ended, the Naruto series has received limited new content. Aside from the Boruto anime and a Minato one-shot, nothing interesting concerning the original series has been released, especially when it pertains to the original IP. However, this is now changing.
Naruto has already confirmed its presence at one of the biggest anime and manga events outside of Japan — New York Comic Con 2026. The series has already teased the reveal of a big project, and now, we know what this project is. As reported by Variety on September 10, 2026, we can now say that Studio Pierrot is going to reveal a new animated Naruto movie, officially marking the return of Naruto Uzumaki. This new movie isn’t to be confused with the already announced Live Action movie by Lionsgate. Instead, this movie is about to be an animated one that carries the story of the original series by Masashi Kishimoto. New York Comic Con features Naruto’s stage on October 10, 2026, and we'll finally learn more about this project then.
The reveal of a brand new Naruto animated movie is huge, and possibly the biggest project for the franchise in the last few years. Sadly, until New York Comic Con finally hits, information about this project remains limited. We can, however, theorize about what to expect from this new project. The Naruto series is massive, and a new movie could be set anywhere in the timeline, covering a wide array of events and adventures.
Interestingly enough, in 2023, Naruto announced 4 new episodes to us, which ended up being delayed indefinitely. It is possible that this new movie is simply a telling of the story that was going to be covered in the 4 anime episodes previously. For context, these 4 special episodes were supposed to drop in 2023 for the occasion of Naruto’s 20th Anniversary. With the current hype behind theatrical anime releases, this might have caused Studio Pierrot to pivot and release the episodes in theaters as one big movie. If that is indeed the case, then many fans will be disappointed, as we were going to get these new episodes either way eventually. Nevertheless, if that is the case, then the movie will be set before the Shippuden era and feature the pre-timeskip cast before Sasuke’s departure.
A more exciting possibility for the new movie is for it to take place after the conclusion of the original Naruto anime. If set after the 4th Great Ninja War, many possibilities open up. There is an unexplored decade separating Naruto Shippuden and Boruto. A new movie could explore more of Naruto and the other ninjas’ early adult life, and set them up against new powerful threats. We could thus see the likes of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, all at their peak power. More of Naruto Uzumaki as the 7th Hokage could also be showcased, something we didn’t get to fully enjoy in Boruto.
At the moment, it’s unclear if Masashi Kishimoto, the creator of Naruto, is going to be involved in the new project or not. If he is, then that would mean the new movie is canon material, and that is definitely an exciting prospect. Of course, since he has retired, Kishimoto has a lot of time to be involved in these side projects, which definitely makes it much more plausible. If he’s already involved in the live-action, we’re sure he will contribute to this new movie as well.
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