The Super Mario Galaxy Movie blasted to a $188 million five-day opening weekend, confirming what we already suspected: Nintendo has cracked the code on theatrical animation in a way no other gaming company has.
To put this in perspective: the first Super Mario Bros. Movie opened to $146 million domestically in 2023. This sequel improved on that by nearly 30%, which is unheard of for animated franchises that aren't named Frozen or Toy Story.
According to Deadline, the film dominated the Easter weekend while Zendaya and Robert Pattinson's adult drama The Drama pulled in a respectable $14 million—proof that you can program both ends of the demographic spectrum and still have plenty of room at the multiplex.
But let's talk about what Nintendo is doing right that everyone else keeps screwing up.
First, they trust their own material. Mario games are colorful, kinetic, and built around pure gameplay joy—so the movies are colorful, kinetic, and built around pure visual joy. No one's trying to make these films "elevated" or "gritty." They're just fun.
Second, they picked Illumination as their partner, a studio that knows how to make candy-colored spectacle on a reasonable budget and market it to within an inch of its life.
Third—and this is crucial—they're making movies for everyone, not just nostalgic adults. Kids who've never touched a Nintendo console are showing up because these films work as pure animated entertainment.
Compare that to, say, , which has had success but still feels like it's chasing trends rather than defining them. Or the countless failed game adaptations that tried to be and ended up being less.
