Have you seen the “Super Mario Bros. Movie” yet? The animated film featuring our favourite plumber brothers, has officially become the first film of the year to surpass the coveted $1 billion mark at the global box office.
Released by Universal, Illumination, and Nintendo, the animated video game adaptation has amassed $490 million in North America and $532 million internationally after just 26 days in theatres, reports Variety.
This is just the fifth film to join the $1 billion club during the pandemic era, following in the footsteps of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Jurassic World Dominion,” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”
Since its opening on April 5, the “Super Mario Bros. Movie” has generated $204 million in its first five days, earning the biggest opening weekend of 2023 and the second-biggest debut for an animated film. With Nintendo’s classic Mario and Luigi catering to old and young fans alike, it’s no surprise at the popularity of the film.
This new adaptation of the iconic video game has not only become the highest-grossing movie domestically and globally of 2023, but it has also set a record as the highest-grossing film ever based on a video game. The success of “Super Mario Bros. Movie” comes after a 1993 version of the film that was deemed a failure, with actor John Leguizamo playing Luigi.
Recently, Leguizamo blasted the”Super Mario Bros. Movie” for not being inclusive enough as no Latin voices were included.
The “Super Mario Bros. Movie” is led by a star-studded cast of voices, including Chris Pratt (Mario), Charlie Day (Luigi), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Jack Black (Bowser) and Canadian Seth Rogan (Donkey Kong). The movie is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, and showcases the Brooklyn-based plumbing startup of Mario and Luigi entering the Mushroom Kingdom, meeting Princess Peach, to then take down Bowser to save the world.
Any young Nintendo fan will enjoy the “Super Mario Bros. Movie”, but for myself, I thought it was just pretty average (okay I enjoyed Seth Rogan’s chuckles).
