‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Box Office: All the Records Smashed on Opening Weekend
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter It’s-a blockbuster! “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” an animated adventure based on the classic video game, crushed the competition with its jaw-dropping $204.6 million domestic and $377 million global debut over the long Easter weekend.
Those results far exceeded expectations and even surpassed the starts of recent installments in Universal’s biggest franchises, like “Jurassic World Dominion” ($145 million domestically) and “Fast and Furious 9” ($70 million).
So, expect a sequel to be announced faster than you can say “Let’s-a go!” “The box office just kept growing and growing,” marvels Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “It’s a tremendous worldwide debut, and the movie has a clear runway.” The PG film, which cost Universal, Illumination and Nintendo roughly $100 million to bring to the big screen, thrived as the de facto choice among family crowds, who have been starved of compelling theatrical offerings since last December’s release, “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” But the kid-friendly film also managed to expand its reach beyond parents with young ones.
Thanks to a heaping dose of nostalgia and positive word-of-mouth (reviews… not so much), “Mario” turned into a four-quadrant blockbuster — resonating with males and females, young and old, who grew up with Mario, Luigi and other inhabitants of the fantastical Mushroom Kingdom. “The film is based on incredible IP, which is beloved by people of different generations,” says Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for Universal Pictures International.
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