“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is crushing it with the biggest opening weekend of 2026 so far.
Brie Larson, Donald Glover star in ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ 2026
Brie Larson, Donald Glover and Benny Safdie are part of the star-studded voice cast of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” a sequel to the 2023 film.
Let’s-a go!
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is dominating at the box office. The animated sequel, based on the Nintendo video games, debuted to an impressive $190.1 million in North American theaters for the five-day Easter weekend, or $130.9 million for three days, according to estimates from Comscore.
This was the biggest domestic opening weekend of the year so far, surpassing the $80.5 million three-day debut of the Ryan Gosling sci-fi hit “Project Hail Mary” in March. The first “Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which was released on Easter weekend in 2023, grossed $204.6 million in five days, or $146.4 million in three days.
“The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” now holds the record for the third-largest domestic opening weekend for a movie based on a video game, after the first “Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “A Minecraft Movie.” The latter still holds the record after collecting $162.8 million for three days in April 2025.
“Mario Galaxy” impressed at the box office, despite earning weaker reviews than its predecessor. On Rotten Tomatoes, the sequel received an approval rating of 41% among critics, a dip from 59% for the original. Audiences also seemed to enjoy the follow-up a bit less than the first film. Moviegoers polled by CinemaScore gave “Mario Galaxy” an average grade of A-, down slightly from the 2023 movie’s average grade of A.
Regardless, “Mario” has proven to be a hugely lucrative movie franchise since being brought to the big screen in 2023. Drawing inspiration from the “Super Mario Galaxy” games, “Mario Galaxy” brought back most of the major characters from the 2023 blockbuster alongside new fan favorites from the Nintendo games, including Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson), Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie) and Yoshi (Donald Glover).
Glen Powell also voiced Fox McCloud, the protagonist of the “Star Fox” games, a surprise crossover into another gaming franchise, hinting at the possibility of a larger interconnected Nintendo movie universe. Fox McCloud’s presence was not announced until days before the movie hit theaters, giving the film a last-minute boost in excitement among gamers.
No details about a third “Mario” movie have been announced, though a “Mario Galaxy” end-credits scene suggested the sequel will include a prominent Nintendo character who was absent from the first two installments. Fans have already been speculating about which A-list actress could voice the character, who doesn’t speak during her cameo.
The success of “Mario Galaxy” extends an era where video game adaptations reign supreme. After Hollywood struggled for years to successfully translate games into movies and TV shows − a live-action “Super Mario Bros.” film starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo was a notorious failure in 1993 − gaming adaptations have lately been thriving on the big and small screen, from the blockbuster horror franchise “Five Nights at Freddy’s” to the Emmy-winning HBO adaptation of “The Last of Us.”
Still to come from Nintendo is a highly anticipated live-action movie based on “The Legend of Zelda,” one of the most beloved gaming franchises of all time. The movie, which stars Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link and Bo Bragason as Princess Zelda, hits theaters in May 2027.
Outside of Nintendo, other video-game movie adaptations on the way this year include “Resident Evil,” from “Weapons” director Zach Cregger, and a new live-action film based on “Street Fighter.”
Coming in at No. 3 at the box office, behind “Mario Galaxy” and “Project Hail Mary,” was “The Drama,” the Zendaya and Robert Pattinson dramedy about a couple whose wedding week goes off the rails after a shattering secret from the past comes to light. The film, which is built around a shocking early reveal that generated controversy ahead of the release, started with $14.4 million domestically, a solid result roughly on par with the opening of Zendaya’s 2024 tennis drama “Challengers.”
Final numbers will be out this week.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.usatoday.com ’
