Universal/Illumination’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” is already the 2026 box office’s second highest grossing film worldwide after its $372.5 million 5-day global opening weekend, and should pass Amazon MGM’s “Project Hail Mary” for the top spot by next weekend.
This global start includes a $190 million domestic launch that ranks fourth highest for all animated films over five days and exceeds the $158.8 million Thanksgiving weekend opening of Disney’s “Zootopia 2.”
The overseas start is led by a $29.8 million opening weekend in Mexico, the highest ever for a Universal release, and also includes openings of $19.7 million in U.K./Ireland, $15.8 million in Germany, $13 million in France and $10.8 million in Spain, with a release in Japan still to come on April 24.
Both domestically and internationally, “Super Mario Galaxy” has surpassed the entire theatrical run of Disney/Pixar’s “Hoppers,” which added $18.2 million worldwide in its fifth weekend for a total of $149.6 million domestic and $332.2 million globally. It’s the latest sign of how, even with original animation finally showing some signs of life, it is franchises that are carrying the post-pandemic box office more than ever.
Continuing the criticproof reputation of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” in 2023, “Super Mario Galaxy” is well on its way to joining “Frozen” and “Zootopia” as the third animated franchise to have its first two installments cross $1 billion worldwide. The sequel has scored an A- on CinemaScore and a 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and should reach that milestone even if competition from films like the music biopic “Michael” hinders its legs among adult moviegoers in late April.
Meanwhile, “Project Hail Mary” is still holding very well despite losing premium format screens to “Mario,” grossing $30 million in its third weekend for a $217 million domestic total. It is the first Amazon theatrical release ever to cross the $200 million mark in North America and stands globally at $420.7 million.
In third is the other newcomer this weekend, A24’s “The Drama,” which earned a superb $14.3 million opening from 3,082 theaters. It sits only behind “Marty Supreme” ($27.1 million) and “Civil War” ($25.5 million) as A24’s third highest opening weekend in company history.
Starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as an engaged couple whose relationship falls into chaos when a dark secret is revealed, “The Drama” has received generally positive reception despite its intentionally unpleasant tone and dark subject matter, earning a B on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 77% critics and 81% audience.
With a global opening of $28 million and a reported budget around that same amount, “The Drama” should be another mid-budget success for A24 as it prepares to release the psychological drama “Mother Mary” later this month, followed by the highly anticipated horror film “Backrooms” in late May.
Completing the top 5 is Universal’s “Reminders of Him” with $2.3 million in its fourth weekend, giving it a $45 million domestic and $79 million global total against a $25 million budget.
More to come…