The Super Mario Bros. Movie Breaks Video Game Movie Records With $195 Million Box Office Debut

Let's-a-go to the movie theaters this weekend, because "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is absolutely dominating. Nintendo and Illumination's much-anticipated big screen Super Mario adventure is on track to gross $195 million dollars at the domestic box office. If these predictions are correct, then it also could break the record for the highest-grossing weekend for an animated movie, potentially surpassing the likes of "The Incredibles 2" and 2019's "The Lion King." This isn't entirely unrealistic, as the three days it has currently been in theaters totaled a gross of $137 million, surpassing the third-place record holder, "Finding Dory." 

However, we do know of one important feat that "Super Mario Bros." has accomplished, and it's likely one that many never thought would be possible. It has crushed the domestic record for the biggest weekend for a video game movie. The previous title-holder, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," brought in $72.1 million in its opening weekend. While the potential differences between three-day and five-day opening weekends are important to acknowledge, "Super Mario Bros." still breaks the three-day record, grossing $137 million between Wednesday and Friday. Between these preliminary numbers and the wild success of "The Last of Us" on television, the persistent naysayers against video game adaptations may have finally been proven wrong.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is also expected to do massive numbers at the worldwide box office. While exact numbers are unclear as of this writing, Deadline reports that it could reach around $368 million. While certainly major news in its own right, the implications for this estimate are on a whole other level. If this estimate turns out to be accurate, then "Super Mario Bros." could turn in the highest-grossing animated movie global weekend of all time. The Deadline report also claims this number could surpass the worldwide opening of the huge box office hit "Frozen II" by around ten million. As stated, it is currently too early to call this record just yet, but it certainly isn't implausible.

Much of the film's box office success could come in the form of international markets. Sure, the domestic numbers are certainly looking to be impressive, but animated movies often receive significant monetary boosts overseas. Japan, in particular, has risen as a key international market, and with the gaming franchise originating in Japan, it's expected to perform extremely well over there. However, as we previously said, concrete international numbers are still unknown, so it could be a while before this is proven for certain.

Needless to say, this is absolutely major not just for video game movies, but the animated medium as a whole. The message that these tallies send is clear — the interest in animated films, particularly those based on video games that appropriately translate the source material to the screen, is very much present.