'The Super Mario Bros Movie' Crosses A Billion, As Nintendo Assures More Movies Will Come

It's A-Money, Mario!

It’s finally time to check in on the behemoth that is The Super Mario Bros. Movie. I hadn’t done every bit of coverage since the release, Couldn’t muster enough energy for a review with Star Wars Celebration going on, but I did love the movie a lot. I get the soundtrack criticisms greatly. The comedy was on point. Anyway, this weekend will see the movie cross $1 billion at the global box office, the first of 2023’s films to do so.

The animated film from Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo reaches the milestone on its opening weekend in the long-running video game’s home country of Japan. It will have achieved the mark on day 26, Sunday, and become the first animated film, or at least considered as such, in the COVID pandemic and the fifth overall to accomplish the feat, following Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion and Avatar: The Way of Water. It’s looking to be a $487.5 million North America and $533 million international split in grosses.

It has dominated as the highest-grossing release of 2023 so far. In just week two, the film surpassed the previous record holder, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, sitting at $474 million. Even with the big summer releases up ahead, in its four weeks atop the box office before Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 arrives, the Mario movie has clearly made its mark and will be quite the film to beat this year.

So what’s next? Well, obviously more! Not necessarily a sequel yet, but the confidence to start mining the other Nintendo IP. Shigeru Miyamoto teased: “Nintendo is like a talent agency. We have plenty of other entertainers.” While he obviously didn’t delve into any specifics, he elaborated that there were many possible paths to go, such as the characters more easily adaptable to film, or just going right for the very popular characters.

As for when The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be headed home, it first hits premium video-on-demand on May 9. Its Peacock arrival is expected for June, and its releases on physical media are scheduled for July 1, while its digital releases have been delayed to keep its theatrical money flow going.

Sources: Nintendo Everything, Variety