Despite a 48% second-weekend drop —considered modest by blockbuster standards— The Super Mario Galaxy Movie dominated the domestic box office for a second straight week, adding $69 million from 4,284 theaters across the U.S. and Canada. That brings its running domestic total to $308.1 million and its worldwide cumulative gross to a staggering $629 million in just 12 days. Universal's head of domestic distribution, Jim Orr, said the audience reaction scores "point to a very nice run at the box office" — and the numbers back him up.
Already the #1 Film of 2026
After just eight days in theaters, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie surpassed Project Hail Mary to become the highest-grossing film of 2026 in the United States. By comparison, Ryan Gosling's Project Hail Mary — which is still performing strongly in its fourth weekend — has earned $256.7 million domestically and $510.6 million worldwide. Mario lapped it in under two weeks. The film was produced on a budget of just $110 million, meaning it has already earned more than four times its production cost worldwide.
Record Books Are Being Rewritten
The records keep piling up. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie now holds the title of No. 3 highest-grossing video game movie of all time globally, sitting just behind the original Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.36 billion) and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It scored the fifth-biggest global opening for an animated film ever, and made Nintendo's Mario franchise the only animated franchise with two films each opening to over $350 million worldwide. It also posted the highest Monday box office gross of 2026, pulling in $16.8 million.
The Critic-Audience Gap Persists
The critical conversation hasn't changed much since opening weekend — but audiences couldn't care less. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes remain cool on the film, while the audience score sits comfortably above 90%. One clear driver: families. With Easter weekend perfectly timed for its debut, parents took their kids in droves, and repeat viewings are reportedly strong. As the New York Post bluntly predicted on opening day, this film was always going to make $1 billion —and with Japan's release still ahead this month, that milestone is firmly in sight.
What's Next
Japan—Nintendo's home country—hasn't even opened yet, and analysts expect a significant box-office boost when it does. If The Super Mario Galaxy Movie holds to its current trajectory, a $1 billion worldwide total is not a question of if but of when. Universal and Illumination have once again proven that the Mario franchise is among Hollywood's most reliable money-printing machines, critics be damned.
The plumber from Brooklyn just became the biggest star in the galaxy.
Discussion