MOVIE NEWS – Some films do not need critics on their side to become box office monsters, and the Mario franchise has been proving that since 2023. The Super Mario Bros. Movie set a massive benchmark while taking plenty of hits from parts of the international press, and the exact same pattern now seems to be repeating itself with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
The 2023 film opened to $376 million worldwide in its debut frame, and the new installment is following a very similar trajectory. According to Variety, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie finished the weekend with more than $370 million at the global box office, making it the biggest Hollywood opening of 2026 so far. The film launched on April 1 during the Easter holiday stretch, and on that first day alone it pulled in $34.5 million domestically, beating the previous opening-day benchmark set by Project Hail Mary.
It added another $24.6 million on Thursday, which gave it the third-biggest Thursday haul in animated film history. Then came Good Friday with another $48 million, pushing its running total in the United States and Canada to $188 million. For anyone wondering about the cost, the production budget landed at roughly $110 million, which means profitability is already locked in and the film can safely be called a financial hit.
Critics Are Shrugging, but Audiences Bought In Again
Where The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is not shining nearly as brightly is with reviewers. At the time of writing, it sat at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes after 167 reviews from media outlets, while audiences seem to be having a much better time with it. That is almost exactly the same step-by-step pattern as the first movie in 2023: harsh press reactions before release, then a theatrical rollout that audiences embrace anyway, followed by a huge global box office return.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie eventually grossed more than $1.36 billion worldwide, and this new film could realistically end up in very similar territory, or at least close enough to keep Nintendo smiling all the way to the bank. Judging by the post-credits scenes in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, there is every chance the company is already laying tracks for another installment. Either way, one thing is clear already: Nintendo has done it again.
