'The Super Mario Bros. Movie' Breaks Record for Biggest Global Box Office Launch for an Animated Film
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Blocks weren't the only thing Mario and company were smashing over the weekend
Mario and Luigi collected a ton of coins at the box office.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie — starring Chris Pratt, Anya-Taylor Joy and Jack Black — cleaned up the competition over the long Eastern weekend, scoring the top opening of all time for an animated film with $377 million in worldwide ticket sales.
Based on the popular Nintendo franchise, the animated film opened in previews Tuesday before its official debut in theaters Wednesday. Its five-day domestic haul is $204.6 million, while the overseas earnings stand at $173 million across 70 markets.
The success cements The Super Mario Bros. Movie the top opening ever for video game adaptation. It's also the best opening to date in 2023, passing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 previously held the top spot for video game movies with the biggest opening weekend when it made over $71 million upon its debut a year ago. The third Ant-Man film, meanwhile, had an opening weekend global box office of $249.7 million.
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Pratt voices Mario, the modest Brooklyn plumber who is accidentally transported to the magical Mushroom Kingdom, where he helps Princess Peach (Taylor-Joy) fight off the evil turtle Bowser (Black). The cast also includes Charlie Day as Luigi, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad and Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong.
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, The Super Mario Bros. Movie comes from Nintendo and Illumination, the studio behind the Despicable Me and Minions franchises. It opens in theaters in Japan, Nintendo's home country, later this month on April 28.
Black, 53, told PEOPLE at the film's Los Angeles premiere earlier this month that he was proud of the project, for which he recorded his performance remotely, entirely over Zoom.
"I feel like we really did it. I think we mission-accomplished it. We wanted to make a funny, exciting, action adventure, and by God, we did it," he said. "And you know what else we did? We also used all the characters from the Nintendo universe. And if you like playing Mario Kart or any of those Nintendo video games, when you see this movie, you're going to go, 'Whoa,' because there's a bunch of little Easter eggs that only the gamers will really recognize and really appreciate. I'm really happy about that."
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is now in theaters.
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