Universal and Illumination’s animated adventure “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is off to a strong start at the domestic box office, grossing $34.5 million from 3,821 theaters on its first day.
These ticket sales make it the biggest opening day of the year, surpassing the $33.1 million for Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary.” It also ranks higher than its 2023 predecessor, “Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which brought in $31 million on its first day of release. The release of the “Mario” movies is unique because they both open on Wednesdays, while most movies (including “Project Hail Mary”) are released in theaters on Fridays.
At the international box office, “Super Mario Galaxy Movie” collected $33.9 million from 78 markets on Wednesday. The film grossed $68.4 million worldwide. By Friday, the second “Mario” adventure will be shown on more than 49,000 screens in 80 international territories. The top markets so far include Mexico ($6.7 million), the UK and Ireland ($4.3 million), Germany ($3.8 million) and Spain ($3 million).
“Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is currently targeting $186 million domestically in its first five days of release, but exhibitors and independent tracking services believe it will reach $190 million to $200 million by Sunday. The film is expected to gross at least $175 million overseas, and the worldwide box office will be approximately $360 million to $375 million. It will easily rank as the biggest debut of 2026, surpassing “Project Hail Mary,” which grossed $80.5 million in North America and $140 million worldwide over its traditional three-day weekend.
“Super Mario Galaxy Movie” should match or surpass the start of the first movie to reach the high end of projection. “Super Mario Bros. Movie” grossed an astonishing $204 million at the domestic box office in its five days of release (including $146 million over the traditional weekend), $171 million overseas, and $375 million worldwide. The film was a Quadrant 4 blockbuster, grossing $1.3 billion worldwide and becoming the second-highest grossing film of 2023.
“Super Mario Galaxy Movie” cost $110 million to make, not including the studio’s worldwide promotional efforts. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic have returned to direct the sequel. The sequel is inspired by the popular Nintendo game and follows the adventures of Brooklyn plumbers known as Mario and Luigi into space. New and old friends such as Yoshi, Princess Peach, and Toad join Bowser and his son Bowser Jr. as they face off against each other, with voices provided by Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Donald Glover as Yoshi, and Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr.
