In a major win for the box office as it continues to level post-pandemic, The Super Mario Bros. movie broke numerous records opening in North America and 70 international markets over the Easter long holiday weekend.
The film surpassed even the most optimistic of expectations, earning $204.6 million during its five-day domestic debut (April 5-9), including $146.4 million for the three-day weekend. Overseas, it raised $171 million for an astonishing $375.6 million take-off worldwide, the best performance of the year so far on all fronts.
The adaptation of the iconic Nintendo video game, played as a tentpole for the entire audience, versus a PG animated family movie, thanks to the consumers of all ages who enjoy the wildly popular Super Mario Bros. series and its many offshoots over the decades.
“Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto’s Mario is a cultural icon that has enthralled generations,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s chief of domestic distribution, who also paid tribute to Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment, home to popular animated franchises. Despicable Me And minions. “The Super Mario Bros. movie brought an incredibly wide and enthusiastic audience to theaters around the world this weekend.”
It probably won’t be long before Illumination and parent company Universal, along with partner Nintendo, announce a sequel.
Below are the records set by The Super Mario Bros. movienot adjusted for inflation.
Biggest worldwide opening of all time for an animated film
SuperMario passed over Walt Disney Animation’s worldwide debut Frozen 2, which skated to $358 million in November 2019, not long before the COVID-19 crisis hit. And already, Super Mario is the fourth-highest-grossing animated title of the pandemic era, with Universal claiming all four spots (the studio owns both Illumination and DreamWorks Animation). Minions: The Rise of Gru tops the list ($942.5 million), followed by sleeper hit Puss in Boots: The Last Wish ($480.4 million) and Sing 2 ($412.8 million). At this rate, Mario could be the first billion dollar gross of 2023.
Second-biggest domestic opening of all time for an animated film
The comedic romp laughed past Pixar’s find dory ($135.1 million) to find out alone Incredible 2 ($183 million) on the Best Weekend Bows list.
Second-biggest international opening of all time for an animated film
Frozen 2 remains No. 1 with a foreign launch of $228.2 million. SuperMario certainly set a host of records overseas, including landing the biggest animated opening of all time in Mexico ($27.4 million), as well as the best ever takeoff for a Universal film and the third best for a Hollywood picture. It scored the top animated opening in 10 other foreign markets, including Brazil ($6.9 million), as well as the top video game adaptation in 42 markets, the biggest Illumination launch in 27 markets, and the biggest Universal opening in 10 markets, including previews.
Biggest opening of all time for a video game adaptation
Hollywood has always had a hard time with the genre, although there are recent success stories led by Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog series. Until now, Sonic the Hedgehog2 topped the list of best openers among video game adaptations with a three-day domestic debut of $72.1 million (which was considered a huge amount, as the box office recovery was still in its infancy.) SuperMario also scored the biggest worldwide opening of any post-besting video game adaptation Warcraft ($210 million) in like-for-like markets. Sonic 2 had a staggered international rollout, making comparisons impossible.
Biggest opening of 2023 so far
It’s no small feat to beat a Marvel superhero movie, but SuperMario did just that in a buzzing past Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which debuted worldwide for $225.3 million, including $106.1 million in North America and $117.1 million overseas. While a series of best, Quantumania quickly lost momentum.
Top opening in Illumination history
Despicable Me 2 was previously Illumination’s largest global launch, with $208 million in like-for-like markets, while minions topped the list of best domestic openers with a $115.7 million three-day weekend.
Fourth largest global day-and-date gap in universal history
Furious 7 ($398 million), Jurassic world ($525 million) and Fast 8: The Fate of the Furious ($543 million) are the only films to have done more. Quite an achievement.
Top five-day domestic opening for a Wednesday and Sunday launch
Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen was the previous record holder with $200.1 million.
Top animated opening of all time for Imax
The premium wide format exhibitor earned $21.6 million worldwide and $16.6 million domestically, both records. Overseas, SuperMario set all-time Imax records for an animated feature film in 22 markets, including the UK, Germany, Brazil, and Mexico, and all-time Imax records for each film in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Curaçao.
