Mamma Mia! Illumination and Nintendo continue to soar through box office milestones with The Super Mario Bros. Movie as the animated feature has now crossed the $900 million mark at the global box office. As shown over the weekend, the film has demonstrated incredible endurance with viewers, continuing to beat projections even after 21 days in theaters. With this latest mark crossed, the next target for Universal will be the coveted $1 billion mark which Mario and company should easily reach by next week.
In total, the worldwide cume for The Super Mario Bros Movie sits at $901.2 million with $444 million coming stateside and $457.2 million from the international market. The film is also likely to get a slight second wind to further bolster those numbers as it will debut in Korea today and head over to Japan on Friday. It's not like it needed the help, though, as Mario's endurance as a pop icon along with word-of-mouth praise has helped the film recently take the crown for Universal's best third weekend ever, toppling the original Jurassic World.
As it continues to grow, Mario figures to topple more records for Universal as a whole too. In its march of $1 billion, it'll pass last year's major hit Minions: The Rise of Gru's $942.5 million global mark, making it the company's most profitable animated feature since 2019. Although it currently sits at #5 all-time among Universal's animated films, Mario should easily climb a few rungs as it'll certainly pass Despicable Me 2 ($975.3 million) and likely Despicable Me 3 ($1.035 billion) as well. The one juggernaut that could prevent its rise to the very top is 2015's Minions at $1.159 billion, but it's hard to count the plumber out considering all he's managed to accomplish so far. He also helps continue Universal's recent run of box office domination as the company now owns four of the Top 10 MPA films globally since 2019 also including No Time to Die and Jurassic World Dominion.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Is a Major "Wahoo!" for Universal
The success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie hasn't been relegated to the theaters either. Earlier this month, Bowser's (Jack Black) romantic ballad "Peaches" cracked Billboard's Hot 100, further showcasing how inescapable Mario fever has been. What's helped this take on the plumber's adventures succeed where 1993's adaptation failed has been the faithfulness to the games with a myriad of references for longtime fans to see while watching. There's potential to expand from here too as the film could give way to other Nintendo adaptations as well as sequels and spinoffs spotlighting characters like Donkey Kong.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, starring Black alongside Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and more, is still in theaters. It'll soon face some tough competition though as another Pratt-led film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, enters the mix next week. Check out the trailer below.