“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” towered over box office charts with $377 million in global ticket sales, taking the title for the biggest worldwide debut of the year from “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” ($225.3 million).
The animated movie — a collaboration between Illumination, Nintendo and Universal — crushed already-high expectations, igniting to $173 million internationally and $204 million in its first five days at the domestic box office.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” opened in 70 overseas territories, including Mexico ($27.4 million to start), the U.K. and Ireland ($19.6 million to start), Germany ($14 million to start) and China ($12 million to start).
With those ticket sales, “Mario” landed several overseas records, including the best international debut of the year (overtaking “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” with $117.1 million) and second-biggest animated opening of all time (behind “Frozen 2” with $228.2 million). It also scored the biggest animated opening in 11 individual markets, as well as the best start for a video-game adaptation in 42 individual markets.
“It’s a phenomenal number all around,” says Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for Universal Pictures International. “The film is based on incredible IP, which is beloved by people of different generations– young and old. This is great news for the industry.”
In addition to brand recognition and nostalgia for the popular video game, the film benefitted from positive word-of-mouth and the months-long lack of movies for family audiences. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” features the voices of Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach and Jack Black as Bowser. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the story follows the mustachioed plumber and friends as they prepare to stop the all-powerful Bowser from world domination.