The Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office run made Nintendo and Illumination’s sequel the first film of 2026 to pass $1 billion worldwide. Here is how the Easter release got there, who voices whom and why families kept coming back.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office total stands at about $1.008 billion worldwide, according to Wikipedia’s compilation of box office data, against a reported budget of $110 million. The film opened on 1 April 2026 in the US and across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and it crossed the billion-dollar mark in early June.
Critics were unimpressed and audiences did not care. The sequel took the year’s biggest global opening at the time, led the 2026 chart through the spring and became the second-highest-grossing video game film ever.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office at a glance
- Release: 1 April 2026 in the US, UAE and Saudi Arabia; 24 April in Japan
- Directors: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, writing by Matthew Fogel
- Producers: Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto
- Runtime: 98 minutes
- Budget: $110 million
- Domestic opening: $131.7 million over three days, $190.8 million over five
- Global opening: $372.6 million from 80 markets
- Worldwide total: about $1.008 billion ($430 million domestic, $578 million international)
- Distributor: Universal Pictures
Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office: the record Easter launch
The film premiered at the Minami-za theatre in Kyoto on 28 March and opened in the US on Wednesday 1 April, two days earlier than first planned. It made $34 million on its first day, ahead of the $31.7 million the 2023 original managed.
The three-day weekend brought in $131.7 million domestically, the fourth-biggest Easter three-day opening ever, and the five-day haul reached $190.8 million. Across 80 markets the global launch came to $372.6 million, the biggest opening of 2026 at that point.
Easter Monday added $16.8 million to the Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office tally, the highest Monday gross of the year. The second weekend dropped 49% to $68 million, and the film still held first place in its third weekend with $36.5 million.
From $629 million to $1 billion
By 14 April, the Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office stood at about $629 million worldwide, NME reported, making it the year’s highest-grossing Hollywood film and second globally only to the Chinese film Pegasus 3.
The film then opened in Japan, Nintendo’s home market, on 24 April in RealD 3D and IMAX. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office total passed $1 billion in early June, and NBCUniversal confirmed on 8 June that it was the first 2026 release to do so.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office records
- First film of 2026 to cross $1 billion worldwide
- Second-highest-grossing video game film ever, behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie
- The only animated franchise with two films that each opened above $350 million globally
- Fifth-biggest global opening for an animated film and second-biggest for Illumination
- Second Illumination film to pass $400 million in North America
- Second-highest-grossing animated release in Universal’s history
The two films together have taken more than $2 billion, which NBCUniversal says makes Super Mario the ninth-biggest animated franchise in the world.
The voice cast
- Chris Pratt as Mario
- Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach
- Charlie Day as Luigi
- Jack Black as Bowser
- Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
- Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr.
- Donald Glover as Yoshi
- Brie Larson as Princess Rosalina
- Glen Powell as Fox McCloud
Issa Rae voices the Honey Queen and Luis Guzmán plays Wart. Glover also voices Yoshi in every dubbed version of the film, not only the English one.
The story and how it was made
Bowser Jr. kidnaps Princess Rosalina to drain her powers and fuel a cannon that could destroy the universe. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Yoshi and Fox McCloud head into space to stop him, and the film reveals that Peach and Rosalina are sisters.
Meledandri and Miyamoto confirmed the sequel on Mario Day in March 2024, and Nintendo revealed the title in a Nintendo Direct in September 2025. Illumination Studios Paris handled the animation, and Brian Tyler returned to write the score.
Critics versus audiences
Critics versus audiencesReviews were cool. Rotten Tomatoes scored it 42% with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10, and Metacritic gave it 37 out of 100 from 45 critics. Most praised the visuals and the fan references but criticised the story and the pacing.
Audiences disagreed. CinemaScore polls gave it an A minus, one step down from the first film’s A, and PostTrak reported 79% positive with 62% saying they would definitely recommend it.
That gap mirrors the first film and explains the Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office pattern: families and gamers drove the run, and reviews barely dented it.
What drove the Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office
Timing came first for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office run. An Easter opening put the film in front of families during school holidays in the US and Europe, with little animated competition until June.
The brand did the rest. The 2023 original grossed about $1.36 billion, so the sequel inherited an audience that already knew the tone. Adding Rosalina, Bowser Jr., Yoshi and Fox McCloud from Star Fox gave long-time Nintendo players new reasons to return.
How it compares with 2026’s other hits
The sequel finished roughly $350 million below its predecessor, the one caveat in a huge result. Even so, the Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office haul is more than nine times its reported budget.
Through the spring it led the year. It was later overtaken by Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and by Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which became 2026’s highest-grossing film, but Mario remains the year’s first billion-dollar release.
Watching the Super Mario Galaxy Movie in the UAE
The film reached UAE and Saudi cinemas on 1 April, the same day as the US. The launch came with a Super Mario Galaxy-themed Dubai Metro and hourly projections at VOX Cinemas Mall of the Emirates over the opening weekend.
It arrived on US digital platforms on 19 May and on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on 16 June. Rental and streaming catalogues differ by country, so UAE viewers should check the Apple TV and Prime Video stores.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie box office FAQs
How much did The Super Mario Galaxy Movie make?
About $1.008 billion worldwide, according to the film’s Wikipedia entry, with $430 million from North America.
When did The Super Mario Galaxy Movie cross $1 billion?
In early June 2026, about nine weeks after its release. It was the first film of the year to reach the mark.
Who voices Rosalina?
Brie Larson voices Princess Rosalina, who is revealed in the film to be Peach’s sister.
Read how The Super Mario Galaxy Movie launched in the UAE and KSA, and find more stories in our Hollywood section.