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'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' is a box office smash

With an estimated $173 million in international earnings and a global total of $377 million, Mario broke records for video game adaptations

Audiences in the United States said let’s go to the movie theatre for The Super Mario Bros. Movie over the weekend. The animated offering from Universal and Illumination powered up with $204.6 million in its first five days in 4,343 North American theatres, including $146.4 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

With an estimated $173 million in international earnings and a global total of $377 million, Mario broke records for video game adaptations (passing Warcraft’s $210 million) and animated films (Frozen 2’s $358 million).

Its global total makes it the biggest opening of 2023 and the second biggest three-day domestic animated opening (behind Finding Dory). It’s also a record for Illumination, the animation shop behind successful franchises like Minions, which has made over $5 billion from its 13 films.

“This partnership between Nintendo and Illumination is just incredible and led to this extraordinary performance,” said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution.

The PG-rated Mario is an origin story of Brooklyn plumbers Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, and Luigi (Charlie Day), who fall into a pipe and come out in another world full of Nintendo’s most famous characters, from Bowser (Jack Black) to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Critics were largely mixed. Mario currently has a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were more favourable, giving it an A CinemaScore.