(SeaPRwire) – Despite receiving mixed reviews, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” saw strong ticket sales, achieving the biggest opening of the year for a Hollywood film. The co-production between Illumination and Nintendo grossed $130.9 million over the weekend and a substantial $190.1 million in its first five days in North American theaters, as per studio estimates released on Sunday.
Universal Pictures launched the sequel worldwide on Wednesday, capitalizing on the spring break period for children leading up to the Easter holiday. With an estimated $182.4 million from 80 international markets, the film is projected for a remarkable $372.5 million global debut, marking another success for a PG-rated film. Mexico led the international box office with $29.1 million from 5,136 screens, followed by the U.K. and Ireland with $19.7 million.
This animated sequel, which is Illumination CEO Christopher Meledandri’s 16th film in 16 years, boasts the industry’s largest debut since “Avatar: Fire and Ash” premiered over Christmas. However, the Chinese film “Pegasus 3,” not released by the Motion Picture Association, holds a slight lead for the 2026 global record.
The opening weekend figures represent a decrease from the first film, which debuted to $204 million domestically over the same five-day period in 2023 (with $147 million earned from Friday to Sunday). “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” went on to become the second highest-grossing film of 2023, earning over $1.3 billion at the box office.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” featuring returning voice actors Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Charlie Day, had a significant presence in the U.S. and Canada, showing in 4,252 theaters, including 421 IMAX and 1,345 premium large format screens. The film generated $15 million from IMAX screens alone.
“This is precisely the kind of broad, crowd-pleasing release that draws audiences to theaters,” stated AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron in a press release.
The production cost of the film was approximately $110 million, excluding marketing and promotional expenses. Its release followed a string of less-than-favorable reviews, with its Rotten Tomatoes score currently at a low 40%. However, moviegoers expressed a more positive reception.
According to PostTrak exit polls, family audiences awarded the movie five out of five stars, while general audiences gave it four stars and an A- on CinemaScore. The audience demographic was predominantly male (61%), though among families attending, mothers (52%) slightly outnumbered fathers.
“These audience reaction scores indicate a remarkably strong performance, not only throughout the spring but likely extending into the summer,” commented Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is scheduled to premiere in Japan later this month.
Last year, the first weekend of April saw the release of another video game adaptation, “A Minecraft Movie,” which had a larger three-day opening ($162.8 million). However, it did not have “Project Hail Mary” in a strong second place, resulting in the overall weekend box office being up by approximately 5%.
As anticipated, “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ended the two-week dominance of the Ryan Gosling-led sci-fi film “Project Hail Mary,” which secured second place in its third weekend with an additional $30.7 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $217.2 million. Globally, it has grossed $420.7 million to date.
Third place was claimed by A24’s controversial new film “The Drama,” starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, which earned an estimated $14.4 million from 3,087 theaters. The film’s stars have been actively promoting the R-rated movie about an engaged couple facing a startling revelation, which reportedly cost $28 million to produce. The revelation has sparked considerable public discussion. While reviews have been generally positive (82% on Rotten Tomatoes), the film received a less favorable B CinemaScore.
“Hoppers” and “Reminders of Him” completed the top five. The overall box office outlook appears promising, showing a 30% increase compared to last year.
“There’s no better opening act for a successful summer than a significant month of April powered by a major blockbuster like ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,'” said Paul Dergarabedian, comscore’s head of marketplace trends.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures to be released on Monday, this list reflects estimated ticket sales from Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1.“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” $130.9 million.
2.“Project Hail Mary,” $30.7 million.
3.“The Drama,” $14.4 million.
4.“Hoppers,” $5.8 million.
5.“Reminders of Him,” $2.2 million.
6.“A Great Awakening,” $2.1 million.
7.“They Will Kill You,” $1.9 million.
8.“Dhurandhar The Revenge,” $1.9 million.
9.“Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,” $1.8 million.
10.“Scream 7,” 915,000.
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