The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is contributing in a major way to the much-needed spring bloom at the box office, where the family friendly tentpole opened to an estimated $372.5 million globally, the biggest showing since James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash unfurled in theaters over Christmas 2025. And it is by far the top opening of 2026 so far among Hollywood titles.
The sequel opened to an estimated $190.1 million domestically over the five-day Easter corridor, including a three-day weekend gross of $130.9 million. Overseas, Galaxy blasted off with an estimated $182.4 million from 80 markets.
Hitting theaters over the Easter corridor in 2023, the first Mario Bros. Movie posted a five-day domestic debut of $204 million, including a three-day weekend haul of $147 million, one of the best showings of all time for a holiday. Galaxy also joins the upper reaches of that list.
Super Mario Galaxy achieved a number of other milestones, including delivering the year’s biggest three-day opening not only in North America, but overseas and globally (a record held briefly by sleeper hit Project Hail Mary).
Global achievements include scoring the the fifth-biggest opening ever for an animated title, and the fourth-biggest for a Hollywood studio release behind Zootopia 2, Moana 2 and Super Mario, not adjusted for inflation; it is the only animated franchise based on a video game to have two titles open to north of $350 million. And it is Universal’s fifth-biggest opening of all time (an elite group that obviously includes the first Mario.)
Among its domestic achievements: Super Mario Galaxy scored the third-highest grossing weekend for a video game adaptation behind A Minecraft Movie and Super Mario; it is the only animated franchise to have two titles open to more than $100 million over a three-day weekend besides Shrek, Toy Story and Minions; and it delivered the biggest five-day domestic launch since Disney’s Moana 2.
“Our opening frame for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a powerful result for an iconic franchise and a terrific outcome for the marketplace. Audience reaction scores are pointing to a very long, successful run at the domestic box office,” says Universal domestic distribution president Jim Orr, noting the Meldandri’s extraordinary track record as founder and head of Illumination, also home of Minions.
Super Mario Galaxy was graced with an A- CinemaScore from audiences despite being snubbed by many critics. The 2023 pic received an A and quickly became a box office sensation on its way to topping out at $1.36 billion globally and delivering a marquee new franchise.
Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and partnership with Universal, partnered with Nintendo in bringing the adaptation of the family-friendly video game to the big screen. The follow-up tells the story of Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach once again taking on the evil Bowser (this time along with his son, Bowser Jr.) in an adventure that spans the galaxy and introduces new characters, including Princess Rosalina and Nintendo icon Yoshi.
Amazon MGM’s Project Hail Mary, now in its third weekend, is continuing to do remarkable business despite losing Imax and premium-large formats to Super Mario Galaxy. The Ryan Gosling-led epic celebrated not just one, but two milestones over Easter weekend when crossing the $400 million mark at the global box office and the $200 million mark domestically.
Coming in second domestically, the Ryan Gosling-led blockbuster fell only 43 percent in its third outing to $30.6 million from 3,902 cinemas to finish Easter Sunday with a North American cume of $217.2 million.
Zendaya and Robert Pattinson’s edgy The Drama — definitely not an Easter offering for families — is reporting a third-place finish with an estimated $14.1 million from 3,097 locations. On Sunday, some rivals thought the A24 title would come in closer to $13 million. The movie received a so-so B CinemaScore, but sports a solid 81 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Pixar and Disney’s Hoppers stayed in the top five in its fifth weekend to finish Sunday with a pleasing domestic tally of $149.6 million and $182.6 million overseas for a global of $323.2 million. Animation dominated the top-10 chart overall when factoring in Sony Pictures Animation’s GOAT, which likewise had reason to celebrate after shooting the ball past the $100 million mark domestically for a global total of $185.2 million.
April 5, 7:35: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was originally published April 4 at 11:15 a.m.
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