They’re back! The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is off to an impressive start at the box office, serving up a huge opening day gross of $34 million domestically as it unfurled in theaters Wednesday to get a jump on Easter weekend.
That’s the biggest opening day of the year to date, coming less than two weeks after Project Hail Mary set the earlier opening record with $33.1 million. Galaxy’s haul was also ahead of the $31 million earned by the first Super Mario Bros. Movie on its first Wednesday before Easter. The 2023 pic quickly became a box office sensation on its way to topping out at $1.36 billion globally and delivering a marquee new franchise for Universal, Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo.
Universal insiders are projecting a five-day domestic opening of $186 million for Galaxy, including $128.2 million for the three-day weekend. Some theater owners believe it could come in as high as $200 million, on par with Super Mario‘s five-day opening of $204.6 million over the same holiday corridor.
Overseas, it’s eyeing a debut of $175 million, easily resulting in the top worldwide opening of 2026 so far.
The Universal-owned Illumination partnered with Nintendo in bringing the adaptation of the family friendly video game to the big screen. The franchise appears to be review proof; the sequel has been snubbed by many critics, but stellar audience scores are more than making up for the deficit, or at least so far.
The follow-up tells the story of Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach once again taking on the evil Bowser (this time along with his son, Bowser Jr.) in an adventure that spans the galaxy and introduces new characters including Princess Rosalina and Nintendo icon Yoshi.
The core voice cast reunited for Super Galaxy, including Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser) and Keegan-Michael Key (Toad). New voices include Benny Safdie (Bowser Jr.), Issa Rae (Honey Queen), Brie Larson (Princess Rosalina), Glen Powell (Fox McCloud) and Donald Glover (Yoshi).
Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic returned to direct the sequel from a script written by returning scribe Matthew Foget.