THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE Blasts Past Critics With Massive $370M Opening

Critics might’ve hit pause on this one, but audiences clearly grabbed a controller and jumped right in. The Super Mario Galaxy Moviehas exploded out of the gate with a huge global debut, proving once again that the Mushroom Kingdom plays by its own rules when it comes to box office power.

Despite landing a rough 41% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel tells a completely different story with fans. It’s sitting at a strong 89% audience score with thousands of ratings backing it up. That disconnect couldn’t be more obvious when you look at the numbers pouring in from theaters around the world.

According to early reports, the film pulled in $190 million across the five-day Easter weekend, including $130.9 million over the traditional three-day stretch. Add in international earnings and the total climbs to an impressive $372.5 million global launch.

That puts the movie firmly on track to chase the massive success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which brought in over $1.3 billion worldwide.

Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto are once again steering the ship, and it’s clear their collaboration with Illumination and Nintendo is still firing on all cylinders. Universal’s distribution chief Jim Orr said:

"This extraordinary weekend underscores the amazing partnership between Illumination and Nintendo, and the enduring strength of Mario and his pals. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie feels bigger and more ambitious, with audiences clearly embracing this next evolution of their world."

"Also exciting to note that this is Chris Meledandri’s 16th movie in 16 years, a period of extraordinary success that continues again this summer with another event title."

While Mario is dominating the charts, other films are trying to keep up. The Drama starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya is looking at a modest $14.4 million opening, while Project Hail Mary is aiming higher with a projected $32.6 million weekend. Still, neither comes close to touching Mario’s intergalactic run.

Looking ahead, fans are already wondering what comes next. Don’t expect a full-blown Nintendo crossover just yet, though. Miyamoto recently addressed the idea of a Smash-style universe:

"I'll say that, unlike something like Super Smash Bros., I don't think you'll have a situation [where] all Nintendo characters would be joining. As you know, my rule is that Pikmin can appear in any [Nintendo] series."

"As we're working on this movie, I re-realized how varied and how multi-talented the Mario cast is. When we had kind of ideas from Illumination about, 'What about this character? What about that character?' I was like, 'Oh yeah, that's right. We had this. Oh yeah, that's right. We had that character.' So it really kind of reaffirmed the varied nature of characters in the Mario world."

"We have plenty of characters to create a movie, and yet we wanted to add a little bit of spice, a little bit of secret cameos here and there. And you'll see that there's one secret character that plays a big role," he continued. "So I think there might be introductions of characters like this potentially in the future, something like that."

The film brings back returning directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, with Matthew Fogel once again handling the script and Brian Tyler delivering the score.

The voice cast is stacked with returning favorites including Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kevin Michael Richardson, alongside newcomers Benny Safdie and Brie Larson stepping in as Rosalina and Bowser Jr.

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a massive hit where it counts. Critics may not be sold, but audiences have spoken loud and clear, and Mario is still collecting coins at record speed.