‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Opens to $190 Million, ‘The Drama’ Impresses With $14 Million

Wahoo! Universal and Illumination’s animated sequel “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” has activated the domestic box office with $130 million in its opening weekend and powered to $190 million from 4,252 theaters in its first five days of release.

These blockbuster figures rank as the year’s largest domestic debut, ahead of March’s “Project Hail Mary” with $80.5 million. However they ever-so-slightly trail its franchise predecessor, 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which ignited to $146 million over the traditional weekend and $204 million in its first five days. Thanks to the enduring appeal of family films and a multi-generational love for the Nintendo video game, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” became a four-quadrant smash in 2023 with $1.3 billion globally.

At the international box office, “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” collected $182.4 million from 78 markets for a dazzling global start of $372.5 million. By comparison, the first “Mario” earned $171 million overseas and stellar $375 million worldwide in the same timeframe.

“These are outstanding numbers,” says David A. Gross, who publishes the box office newsletter FranchiseRe. “So far, the movie is holding most of the first film’s audience.”

This also marks the second-biggest domestic launch of all time for Illumination, the animation empire founded by Chris Meledandri. The prolific producer, whose company has an exclusive partnership with Universal, has fielded such kid-friendly hits as the “Despicable Me” and “Minions” franchise, “Sing” and “The Secret Life of Pets.”

“‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ is thrilling audiences worldwide,” says Universal’s domestic distribution chief Jim Orr. “Incredible to note that this is Chris Meledandri’s 16th movie in 16 years, an amazing run that continues again this summer with another event title.” This July’s “Minions & Monsters” is poised to be…