“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” soared to the top of the box office charts with $377 million in ticket sales around the world. It beat out “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania” ($225.3 million) for the biggest worldwide opening of the year.
The animated movie, which was made by Illumination, Nintendo, and Universal, blew away already high expectations. In its first five days, it made $173 million overseas and $204 million in the United States.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” opened in 70 countries outside of the United States. It made $27.4 million in Mexico, $19.6 million in the U.K. and Ireland, $14 million in Germany, $12 million in China, $10.4 million in France, $8.6 million in Spain, and $8.3 million in Australia.
Do you know that about 50 million copies of Red Deἀd Redemption 2 have been sold? This is a big sales milestone. In its quarterly financial report, Take-Two Interactive said that this number showed that the Western open-world game had done better than expected:
With those ticket sales, “Mario” broke several overseas records, including best international debut of the year (beating “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania” with $117.1 million) and second-biggest animated opening of all time (behind “Frozen 2” with $228.2 million). It also had the biggest start for an animated movie in 11 markets and the best start for a movie based on a video game in 42 markets.
Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, president of distribution for Universal Pictures International says (as reported by Variety) –
“It’s a phenomenal number all around. The film is based on incredible IP, which is beloved by people of different generations– young and old. This is great news for the industry.”
In addition to being a well-known brand and a nostalgic throwback to a popular video game, the film benefited from good word-of-mouth, high-end theater formats, and the fact that there hadn’t been many family-friendly movies in theaters for months.
“Mario” did best in Imax, where it made $5 million overseas and $21.6 million worldwide. In 22 markets, including Ireland, the UK, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands, those ticket sales make the animated movie’s debut the best it has ever been for the company.
Imax CEO Rich Gelfond says –
“llumination and Universal did an excellent job launching this new franchise, building on the great momentum we’re seeing at the global box office as a very promising summer blockbuster season approaches.”
In “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” Chris Pratt gives Mario’s voice, Charlie Day gives Luigi’s voice, Anya Taylor-Joy gives Princess Peach’s voice, and Jack Black gives Bowser’s voice. The story is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic. It is about how the plumber with a mustache and his friends get ready to stop the all-powerful King Koopa from taking over the world.