The Super Mario Bros. Movie Has Now Grossed More than Frozen
Nearly two months after its release in theaters, The Super Mario Bros. Movie continues to find incredible success at the box office. The Nintendo adaptation has now grossed $1.294 billion, pulling it ahead of Disney's Frozen, which earned a total of $1.29 billion when it released in theaters 10 years ago. The achievement makes Mario second or third on the list of the highest-grossing animated films of all-time. Technically speaking, the number one film on the list is the 2019 remake of The Lion King, though there's some debate about whether that should be considered a live-action film.
It will take quite a bit for The Super Mario Bros. Movie to continue moving up the list! Frozen II earned $1.453 billion during its box office run, while The Lion King made $1.663 billion. It seems pretty unlikely that the Illumination film could make its way even further up the list at this point in its run, but stranger things have happened. Prior to its release on April 5th, no one could have predicted that The Super Mario Bros. Movie would have caught on with audiences like this.
It's likely that Mario's success will have a very big impact on Hollywood beyond this one movie. The film's conclusion sets up a potential sequel, and Nintendo has no shortage of games that could receive a similar treatment. In the immediate future, it's likely we'll see Nintendo and Universal create more films centered around the Mario family of characters, but franchises like Zelda, Animal Crossing, and Metroid could also find a lot of box office success. Of course, plenty of studios will be looking to replicate that success with other video game franchises. We're already seeing a number of high-profile games being considered for films, including Street Fighter, Five Nights at Freddy's, and even ToeJam & Earl. Whether any of those movies will find similar success remains to be seen!
Are you surprised by how much The Super Mario Bros. Movie has grossed? What Nintendo game should get a movie next? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
[H/T: Collider]