‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ races to first place with rocket start at box office, setting global record
It was game over for live-action titles at the domestic box office this weekend as Nintendo and Universal Pictures’ “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” accumulated $204.6 million in ticket sales over its five-day launch, setting multiple records.
Based on the popular video-game series of the same name, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” collected $146.4 million over a three-day period, according to studio estimates. That easily exceeded its lofty box office projections, which anticipated that the family film would collect about $140 million.
Internationally, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” launched at $173 million for a global cumulative of $377 million, the biggest ever worldwide opening for an animated film after Disney’s “Frozen 2” debut of $358 million.
Domestically, the blockbuster shattered multiple records, notching the biggest opening of 2023 (previously Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” with $106.1 million); the highest-grossing five-day launch of all time; and the most successful debut ever for a video game adaptation (previously Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” with $72.1 million).
It also marks the biggest opening haul for Chris Meledandri’s Illumination animation studio (home of the Minions) and the second highest-grossing domestic debut of any animated film. This is the 11th first-place launch for Illumination, according to the studio.
‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie,’ starring Chris Pratt, is mildly amusing, swift, noisy and unrelentingly paced.
In an interview with The Times, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, Jim Orr, ceded all credit to Nintendo, Illumination and Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, who produced the film.
“Miyamoto’s Mario has been a cultural icon literally for decades and for generations,” Orr said. “You combine that with the extraordinarily magical storytelling and filmmaking prowess of Chris Meledandri and Illumination, and it makes for an outrageous debut at the box office that we’re enjoying right now.”
Box-office experts forecast a massive weekend for “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” after the animated comedy racked up $31.7 million domestically on opening day. (That’s nearly $11 million more than Disney’s live-action “Super Mario Bros.” film made in its entire 1993 run, according to measurement firm Comscore.)
The stellar box office performance continues the trend of animated video-game adaptations appealing to families — such as “Sonic” and “Angry Birds” — and faring better than live-action adaptations targeting older demographics, said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
“Adapting a video game to a big-screen movie where you’re going after adults or teenagers or gamers — they’re a very tough audience,” Dergarabedian said. “Despite having so many options at home — so many other options outside of the home — for kids and families ... this became the go-to event for the past week for families and their kids.”
Dergarabedian added that “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is somewhat remarkable for its ability to draw families out in masses to theaters when there is already an abundance of kid-friendly programming at their fingertips.
The last PG-rated title to achieve such a feat was Universal’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which came out in December and had little competition, Dergarabedian said.
The success of child-proofed juggernauts like “Puss in Boots” and “Mario” means there will be “more openness” among studios to craft entire campaigns around PG-rated tentpoles going forward. And there will almost certainly be a “Mario” sequel, Dergarabedian said.
Rounding out the top three at the domestic box office this weekend were Lionsgate’s “John Wick: Chapter 4,” which added $14.6 million in its third weekend for a North American total of $147 million; and Paramount Pictures’ “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” which grossed $14.5 million in its sophomore outing for a North American haul of $62.3 million.
Co-directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” boasts a star-studded voice cast, including Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and Chris Pratt as Mario.
Although the month of April hasn’t always reaped great box-office returns, “the stars lined up” this Easter weekend for “Mario,” Orr said. (The film has the potential to continue dominating the theatrical market until the May launch of Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” — another Pratt vehicle.)
“We saw a great opportunity here on this particular weekend, especially with the Wednesday opening, where you have so many kids out of school,” Orr said. “We have a holiday weekend, we have a great corridor in front of us. ... It’s not always just about the opening week.”
The feel-good flick received a mediocre 56% rotten rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and a markedly better A grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore.
Some think it’s ‘sheer animated fun.’ Others say it’s ‘bland.’ Here’s a sampling of reviews of ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ starring Chris Pratt.
“Fortunately, this loud, hectic movie doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it wouldn’t have the material to last a second longer,” film critic Katie Walsh writes for Tribune News Service.
“It’s bright, busy, inoffensive and exactly the opposite of the weird, dark, edgy 1993 movie adaptation. That may be better for the business of Mario, but it’s not exactly terribly interesting either.”
Despite some harsh critical reception, Orr said audiences “absolutely got this film ... and that really is what counts, because that’s what creates such positive word of mouth that we know we’re gonna enjoy going forward.”
“Kids really don’t care about reviews,” Dergarabedian added. “They just know what they want to see, and that’s it.”
Also new to theaters this weekend was Amazon Studios’ “Air,” which debuted in fourth place with $14.47 million over a three-day period. The business drama about Nike’s landmark shoe deal with basketball legend Michael Jordan — which will begin streaming on Amazon Prime Video after an unspecified, exclusive theatrical release — stars Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Tucker, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans and Viola Davis.
We sit down with ‘Super Mario Bros.’ creator Shigero Miyamoto ahead of the opening of the new animated film.
Directed by Affleck, “Air” scored an outstanding 92% fresh rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and an A grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore. Across its entire five-day opening, “Air” posted $20.2 million.
“Boasting a punchy, phone-slamming, expletive-hurling, heavily Aaron Sorkin-indebted script by Alex Convery, ‘Air’ is an ode to the art of the landmark celebrity-endorsement deal,” writes Times film critic Justin Chang.
“It’s also something of a feature-length Nike commercial, albeit a deft and entertaining one. Mostly, it’s a tribute to classically American values like branding and publicity, ambition and swagger, wealth and more wealth (the Air Jordan line has earned billions and counting) and good, old-fashioned competitive cunning.”
Opening in wide release this coming weekend are Soli Deo Gloria Releasing’s “Everything Went Fine,” Bleecker Street Media’s “Mafia Mamma,” Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Sweetwater,” Crunchyroll’s “Suzume,” Universal Pictures’ “Renfield” and Screen Gems’ “The Pope’s Exorcist.”
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