Super Mario Bros. Movie Breaks Global Box Office Record For Biggest Animated Movie Opening Ever

By Aaron Perine

The Super Mario Bros. Movie broke a massive record for an Animated Film. The five-day projections for the Illumination film sit at $368 million. That would be the biggest ever for an animated film worldwide. It's wild to see these kinds of numbers after a bit of a sluggish start to the year. Super Mario Bros. was always going to be a draw though and with the Super Nintendo Land theme park opening recently, Mario hysteria is at full-blast. Illumination, Universal, and Nintendo were betting big on this one. Securing big names for the voice cast like Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Anya Taylor-Joy, Seth Rogen and Charlie Day. That massive push seems to be paying dividends and it will be interesting to see how far Mario can go in the coming weeks.

Rogen actually wants a Donkey Kong Country spinoff and told us about it. In fan reactions to the movie, it seems like the Kongs have been a huge hit and given Illumintation's track record, that seems like a no-brainer. Rogen said, "It would be fun. I honestly had a great time doing it and I think like it's a big world, gigantic, and it seems to be a thing that people are excited to see."

Is The Super Mario Movie Good?

Comicbook.com's Patrick Cavanaugh reviewed The Super Mario Bros. Movie for our site. While the visual delights of the film were undoubtable, he did question whether all the Easter eggs and other nods to the series' lore distracted the filmmakers from making a full movie. Check out what he had to say here.

"On the plus side, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is far more delightful than the 1993 live-action adaptation, but on the negative side, regardless of how far the industry has come over the years, this adventure can't escape the built-in appeal and ingrained mechanics of the franchise," Cavanaugh argues. "The movie does do an effective job at capturing the colorful and playful worlds of the series, as studio Illumination manages to honor the source material while also translating it organically to the big screen." 

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He continued, "These characters look like their pixelated counterparts as they jump, slide, and punch their way through fantastical lands, to the point that one could easily assume they're watching another player embark on the adventure. One sequence involving Rainbow Road, in particular, will make your hands reflexively reach for a controller and hope to find yourself with a red shell. Sprinkled throughout the entire film are direct nods to the cinematic sensibilities of virtually every title in the Mario library, from platforming side-scrollers to overhead investigations illuminated by flashlights. 

Are you seeing Super Mario Bros. in theaters this weekend? Let us know down in the comments!

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