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'Super Mario' takes box office by storm: becomes second most successful animated film in history

This is one of the biggest box office over-performances in recent memory and is absolutely shattering all pre-release projections. Mario officially says ‘game over’ to the video game movie adaptation curse.

Imagen promocional de Mario y Luigi posando frente a su camión de fontaneros en 'Super Mario Bros. La Película'

(Universal Pictures)

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

Super Mario Bros. The Movie is taking the box office by storm and is already the second most successful animated feature film in history. The film based on the Nintendo video game grossed a total of $420,849,670 worldwide in its first week, according to Box Office Mojo.

These figures made Super Mario Bros. the second best opening for an animated film in history. As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, over the five-day Easter holiday, the film amassed a total of $375.6 million in theaters. Broken down, Mario grossed a total of $204.6 million domestically while, in the rest of the world, it grossed $173 million.

In turn, these figures make it the highest-grossing animated film opening in its first weekend in North America. In first place continues The Incredibles 2 (2019), followed by Nintendo's feature film. This film surpassed Finding Dory which, in its first weekend, grossed $135.1 million. Globally, its $375.6 million made it surpass Frozen II which, in its first weekend, earned a total of $358 million.

The figures are well above what Nintendo, Universal and Illumination expected to gross in its first week. They, Variety recalls, were aiming for $86 million over the weekend and $125 million in the first five days. A far number from the 375.6 million it eventually earned, which also made it the highest-grossing film of 2023 in the United States. It ranks ahead of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which managed to earn, since its release, $212,780,196 versus the $224,741,675 that Mario and company grossed in just five days.

A success that proves that cinema is not dead

The good results at the box office are a reason to rejoice for experts in the seventh art. Wanda Gierhart Fearing, Cinemark's director of marketing and content, told Variety:

’The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s’ strong performance with the family audience this weekend is just another example of the consistent consumer enthusiasm for seeing great films on the big screen,” said Wanda Gierhart Fearing, Cinemark’s chief marketing and content officer. “Moviegoers have demonstrated time and time again that they crave the immersive, cinematic experience only theaters can provide.

An opinion also shared with The Hollywood Reporter by Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. He also highlighted the good box-office results of the feature film starring the little plumber dressed in red:

This is one of the biggest box office over-performances in recent memory and is absolutely shattering all pre-release projections. Mario officially says ‘game over’ to the video game movie adaptation curse.
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