Audiences said let’s go to the movie theatre for The Super Mario Bros. Movie this weekend. The animated offering from Universal and Illumination powered up with $204.6 million US in its first five days in 4,343 North American theatres, including $146.4 million US over the weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
With an estimated $173 million US in international earnings and a global total of $377 million US, Mario broke records for video game adaptations (passing Warcraft‘s $210 million US) and animated films (Frozen 2‘s $358 million US).
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 US 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.
WATCH | Eli Glasner’s 3-star review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie:
The beautifully animated film that brings Nintendo’s video game characters to the big screen is aimed squarely at kids, not their parents who grew up playing the first Mario Bros. games. And that’s OK.
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 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were more favourable, giving it an A CinemaScore.
Orr said that theatre owners were surprised by just how broad the audiences were and reported seeing some ticket buyers decked out in character costumes for the movie. According to exit polls, 59 per cent of the audience was male and 45 per cent were between the ages of 18 and 34.
“$377 million worldwide is just astounding and a testament to how important outside of the home activities are for families,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Kids and their parents collectively were able to go out, have an outside the home event for the whole family at a relatively bargain price compared to a trip or a sporting event.”
Also, Dergarabedian noted, there is a long runway before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens on May 5.
“This was a perfect release date,” Dergarabedian said.
4th place for Affleck’s Air Jordan movie
Mario wasn’t the only movie based on a brand that opened in theatres this week. Ben Affleck’s Air, about the origins of Nike’s Air Jordan and how the corporation signed Michael Jordan, also debuted in 3,507 theatres Wednesday. The film, which marks Amazon Studios first global theatrical release, has grossed an estimated $20.2 million since opening Wednesday in North America, with $14.5 million coming from the weekend to give it a fourth-place start.
With an R-rating, Air, starring Matt Damon, Viola Davis and Affleck, was a bit of adult-targeted counter programming to the Mario juggernaut. Reviews were glowing (95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes) for the film, which debuted as a surprise screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival last month, helping to bolster buzz. Audiences were 55 per cent male and 39 per cent over the age of 45.
Estimated ticket sales were for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.