‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Opens to $130 Million and $372.5 Million Worldwide, Just Shy of Its Predecessor

Mario has gone to space, and about as many people followed him as the last time he went to the movies. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opened to $130 million at the domestic box office this weekend and $190 million in its first five days, since it opened Wednesday, according to Variety. Overseas, it added $182.4 million for a global start of $372.5 million, the biggest debut of 2026 so far.

That is a hair below its predecessor. The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened to $146 million over the traditional weekend and $204 million over five days in 2023, then went on to earn $1.3 billion worldwide. Deadline puts the sequel’s global number against a like-for-like $387.8 million for the original, and adds that Nintendo’s plumbers are now the only animated franchise with two titles opening above $350 million worldwide.

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The sequel follows Mario and Luigi into outer space, introduces Yoshi and Rosalina, and brings back Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy and Jack Black, with Donald Glover as the voice of Yoshi. Directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic returned, and it cost $110 million to make, so it is going to be very profitable. Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore, slightly behind the original’s A. Critics were less taken: Variety’s Owen Gleiberman called it “frenetic and disappointing.”

FranchiseRe’s David A. Gross told Variety that the film is holding what mattered most:

So far, the movie is holding most of the first film’s audience.

David A. Gross, FranchiseRe, Variety

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Final TrailerIllumination and Universal Pictures · Watch on YouTube ↗

Universal did not coast. Deadline describes a campaign “plotted like a global D-Day invasion,” built around Nintendo Directs, Olympics spots, a Super Bowl ad and a March 10 “Mario Day,” which pulled in more than 160 million media impressions in a single day. Theater owners joined in with Yoshi and Bowser popcorn buckets and a Bowser cauldron that is now a Guinness World Record holder for the smallest popcorn container.

The stakes go beyond Illumination. The weekend was the biggest collective box-office haul of the year, ticket sales are up 25% from the same point in 2025, per Comscore, and Deadline says 62% of the audience were non-frequent moviegoers. A24’s The Drama, with Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, also opened strongly in third place with $14.4 million.

The race now moves to the next tentpoles. Deadline sees a chain reaction heading into summer: Michael at the end of the month, The Devil Wears Prada 2 in early May, Mortal Kombat II and The Mandalorian and Grogu. Illumination is already looking ahead too, with Minions & Monsters in July.

Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.