On its first day in theaters, The Super Mario Bros Movie made over $66 million. It broke several international box office records. $34.7 million of that revenue came from overseas. Domestically, it made $53.7 within the first two days. [Thanks, Deadline!]
This is one of the biggest launch days for several countries when it comes to animated movies. In Mexico, for example, it made $5.9 million, which made it Universal’s biggest debut. It wasn’t able to beat Toy Story 4. It was straight up the biggest opening day for an animation movie in Spain, making over $2.2 million. This is the strongest admission since COVID-19 started as well, though in terms of the box office, it fell behind Avengers: Endgame.
Though The Super Mario Bros. Movie is making waves at the box office, it has not been receiving as much positive attention from the reviews. Digital Trends and Rotten Tomatoes have both commented on the fast-paced and surface-level story. Polygon and Rotten Tomatoes have also noted that The Super Mario Bros. Movie mostly relies on the viewers’ nostalgia. The Verge and Gamespot were much more positive in their reviews. Gamespot praises the action in the film, and The Verge compliments the “magic” of translating the game’s platformer elements to the big screen.
The Super Mario Bros Movie is available in theaters. It will make its debut in Japanese theaters on April 28, 2023.
