Mario Films Pass $2 Billion Worldwide As ‘Galaxy’ Holds Onto Top Spot

Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has held onto the No. 1 spot for a third consecutive weekend, grossing an estimated $35 million domestically, as the film continues to dominate the spring season.

The big headline, however, is a major franchise milestone. With roughly $747 million worldwide to date, the sequel has pushed the Mario film franchise past the $2 billion mark, further expanding the franchise’s footprint among the most profitable video game adaptations.

While those numbers confirm Nintendo and Illumination’s box-office influence, the sequel’s trajectory is trailing a bit behind that of the original The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), which ultimately grossed $1.36 billion worldwide. Early comparisons show the new film opened slightly below its predecessor globally ($372 million vs. $377 million) and has continued to run just behind it through subsequent weekends.

That said, the drop-off is more modest than it is alarming. The sequel’s second-weekend domestic decline hovered under 50%, a solid hold for a four-quadrant animated blockbuster, and a similar third-weekend performance suggests it will continue to sell lots of tickets through April.

In practical terms, the sequel may not replicate the original’s lightning in a bottle, but it doesn’t need to. Already profoundly profitable as an individual film and crossing $2 billion as a franchise, it cements Mario as the gold standard for video game adaptations and confirms that Illumination and Nintendo have built something that will be well worth revisiting with more sequels, spin-offs, and tie-ins.

Speaking of franchises, Toho’s Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway, the latest from Japan’s ever-reliable property, continues to perform to par, which is to say at a very high level. The film held onto the No. 1 spot in Japan for a second consecutive weekend and the No. 5 spot worldwide with $12.3 million, despite only being out in one market.

Pixar’s Hoppers is settling into a steady late-run phase. Now in its sixth week of release, Daniel Chong’s original made another $2.9 million domestically and $7.9 million internationally, good for seventh place at the global box office.