No, a New Dragon Ball Movie Isn't Actually Locked In for 2027

A rumor has been making the rounds that a new Dragon Ball movie is coming in 2027, and I want to clear up exactly what is and is not true here. By the end of this piece you should be informed on what is actually going on.

Earlier this year, one account discussed that Toei is listing two big movie projects coming up, and that account seems to believe that in 2027, maybe even 2028, there could be an announcement of a new Dragon Ball movie and a new One Piece movie, possibly tied to a Jump Festa reveal. I understand why that conclusion was reached, since Dragon Ball and One Piece are Toei's two biggest anime properties as far as audience size goes.

Toei Also Makes Digimon, Sailor Moon and Precure, So Those Two Slots May Not Be Dragon Ball at All

The first thing I want people to know is that Toei has a lot of properties beyond Dragon Ball and One Piece. They also handle Digimon, Sailor Moon, Precure and World Trigger. Just because Toei is listing two movie projects does not automatically mean they are going to be Dragon Ball or One Piece.

So while I understand why that account reached that conclusion, those two unannounced movies could be for a totally different franchise entirely. There is no confirmation tying either slot specifically to Dragon Ball.

The Rumor's Roots Go Back to a 2022 Interview That Turned Out to Be Describing Daima

This Dragon Ball movie rumor actually goes back to 2023, and if you dig even deeper, all the way back to right after Superhero in 2022. Another account, who I want to be clear did nothing wrong here, brought up an interview from 2022 with the person who oversees Dragon Ball's continuation, in which that person discussed that they were already working on the next project. I remember talking about this at the time, and I think a lot of people, including possibly myself, assumed that meant another movie. There was even another interview or translation floating around that said something like "we're making the next movie."

Since then we have discovered that the next project after 2022's Dragon Ball Super Superhero was actually Dragon Ball Daima. We know that for a fact because the original animation sheets were dated in 2022, meaning pre-production on Daima was already underway at that time. So what people took as confirmation of a new movie back in 2022 was really just describing Daima.

My 2024 Sourcing on a Post Daima Movie Never Got a Second Source

Back in 2024 I discussed a rumor that there were possibly more Toriyama projects coming after Daima, including rumblings of a new movie. I classified it as a rumor at the time because I was not comfortable saying it was for sure happening, and I did not want to break a story without being sure.

To give more clarity now, I directly asked somebody on the Daima production if a new movie was coming. They told me they weren't sure, but that their superior had told them it was possible. When they told me that, I was not going to say it was for sure happening just because someone said "it's possible." That does not mean it is going to happen right away.

I talked to some other people after that, and nothing really came of it. There was no second source confirming a movie was coming. It just was not something I felt comfortable calling definite, which is why I kept it classified as a rumor, since it was really just people within the production speculating about what might come after Daima. I don't think I even brought up a new movie again for a while after that, because there was no further talk and no pre-production evidence.

Akira Toriyama's Passing Raised the Question of Leftover Notes That Still Hasn't Been Answered

Akira Toriyama passed away in 2024, and after that, talk started that he may have left behind either a script or notes for future projects. To this day we still do not know everything Toriyama left behind. We don't know what the person who oversees Dragon Ball's continuation has, and we don't know what Toyotaro has. There may have been something, there may have been nothing. Neither of them has talked about any projects being worked on beyond what is already known, which is the Dragon Ball Super Beerus arc project and the eventual adaptation of the Moro arc.

Why I Didn't Buy the Rumored 3D Dragon Ball Daima Movie

Last year the rumors started up again. One version being tossed around by the French Dragon Ball community, which I had also been told directly, was that there would be an announcement of a Dragon Ball Daima movie set after the Daima series, likely still in the demon realm, and that it would be done in full 3D. When I heard this, I did not believe it for a second, and I had been skeptical of stories before, but this one was a red flag.

Daima was meant to be a back to basics approach. Unlike Superhero, which used computer effects on top of 2D animation, Daima was classic hand drawn digital 2D, the way Broly and the older Dragon Ball shows looked. So doing an entire 20 episode series in classic 2D and then following it with a CG movie felt strange to me. With Super, the movies worked better as self contained stories tied together by Toriyama's overall vision, but this rumored Daima movie was said to be tied directly into Daima like an extended season finale, possibly involving the fusion villains people were speculating about. There was no evidence for any of that, and no announcement of it.

Venixus Says the 3D Movie Rumor Was a Hypothesis That Turned Into a French Leak

Venixus, who I trust and have talked about in recent pieces, says he heard the same thing about a 3D movie being in the works, but that it was a hypothesis that turned into a leak among the French community. Basically someone in the French fan community thought it might be cool, and then somebody else took it as an actual leak when it wasn't. That is a separate rumor from the one I was told directly back in 2024.

Venixus also points out that Toei still has the 3D assets ready from Superhero, all of the programming work that went into that film, so it would be easy for them to reuse that for a follow up. But there is no evidence that this is actually happening. The same goes for the Vegeta movie rumor that Instagram and Facebook accounts keep pushing. That one has no basis either.

Not Even a Rumor Anymore, But a Movie Is Still Likely Someday

As of right now, I don't think there is going to be a Dragon Ball movie coming for a while. There has been no talk of it, and it has been denied everywhere. Two years ago I would have called this a rumor. Now I would downgrade it further, to just inaccurate, not true. It's not happening right now.

What I cannot confirm or deny is whether Toriyama left behind notes for a future project. That has not been revealed by the person who oversees Dragon Ball's continuation, by Toyotaro, or by anyone else working on this. There could be another story Toriyama had planned that gets revealed someday, but there is no evidence to support that right now.

Do I think we've seen the last of Dragon Ball movies in theaters? No. I do believe we will get another theatrical Dragon Ball movie at some point, maybe after the Moro arc airs, maybe after the Granolah arc airs, down the road. They've made Toei too much money for that not to happen eventually. But as of this moment, nothing is being worked on or planned, at least from a pre-production standpoint. What the person who oversees Dragon Ball's continuation and Toyotaro have in their heads, nobody knows except them. When I say we'll get one eventually, that's a guess on my part, not inside information.

So if you hear anything about a Dragon Ball movie being in production this year, consider it fake news unless it actually gets announced. The only projects coming down the pipeline from Toei right now are not confirmed to be Dragon Ball movies at all, since Precure, Sailor Moon and Digimon are all in the mix too. Dragon Ball in 2027 specifically, I don't think so. Further down the road, it's probable.