The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Will Set A New High Bar At The Box Office For 2026

Things have been picking up at the box office as of late, but Mario is truly coming to save the day. Universal Pictures and powerhouse animation studio Illumination are reuniting to adapt the beloved Nintendo game of the same name with "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," which will serve as this Easter's big theatrical release. The first movie in this franchise was a massive hit three years ago. History is about to repeat itself, it seems.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" is currently eyeing an opening weekend between $95 and $129 million domestically (per Box Office Theory). That would be but a fraction of its overall opening, though. The movie arrives on Wednesday, April 1, which means it's getting a mid-week release and a full five-day opening. Across that Wednesday-to-Sunday five-day stretch, it's expected to make at least $160 million (per Deadline). Mind you, those numbers are likely conservative.

2023's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" smashed the box office record for a video game movie, opening to $146.3 million over its first three-day weekend and $204.6 million over the same five-day stretch across Easter that year. It went way above tracking, and Deadline has noted that tracking is currently better for the sequel. So, the real question is just how high it will fly when all's said and done.

This is also just the tip of the iceberg. Universal's first animated "Mario" movie additionally earned $173 million overseas in its debut. The international numbers for the sequel once again figure to be robust. No matter what, we're looking at easily the biggest opening for any movie in 2026 so far — and it's not even close. Come Monday, April 6, the bar will have been raised.

Universal is keeping plot details largely under wraps, but the Super Bowl trailer for "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" introduced Yoshi, who will be voiced by Donald Glover ("Community"), and it's believed that other as-yet-unannounced major Nintendo characters will appear, too. Not to set unreasonable expectations, but this sequel is poised to be a universe-builder. Its cast also includes the addition of Brie Larson ("Captain Marvel") as Rosalina, with Chris Pratt (Mario), Jack Black (Bowser), Charlie Day (Luigi), and Anya Taylor-Joy (Peach) all returning.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" made an astonishing $1.36 billion worldwide, serving as one of the biggest box office surprises of 2023. Not that anyone thought it wouldn't be a hit, but it's literally one of the biggest animated movies of all time. There's no reason to think, based on the early numbers we're seeing, that the follow-up can't become another $1 billion hit for Universal and Illumination. If it proves to be another crowd-pleaser? The sky is the limit.

It certainly helps that family-friendly animated movies tend to have longer legs than just about anything else at the box office these days. Plus, Nintendo is a global brand that travels well. Case in point: The first "Mario" movie made 58% of its money ($786 million total) overseas. "Hoppers" has done well at the box office and is good for Pixar's future, but it should be trailing off a bit come April.

There isn't another family-friendly tentpole until "The Mandalorian and Grogu" in late May. In terms of animation? The road is clear until "Toy Story 5" in mid-June, so there's every reason to expect Mario to enjoy another super run at the box office.

"The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" hits theaters on April 1, 2026.