‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ has become first release of 2026 to cross $1 billion in global grosses. The film achieved this milestone in its tenth weekend of release. Produced by Illumination and Universal Pictures in partnership with Nintendo, the sequel has now cemented itself as the biggest movie of the year so far.
Domestically, the film has earned $428.5 million, making it the highest grossing movie of 2026 at the US box office. Overseas, it has pulled in $571.5 million, ranking it as the highest grossing MPA title internationally.
The numbers confirm what tracking data had pointed to for weeks. The film simply held its ground at the box office longer than most animated releases manage.
The opening run
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie debuted on April 1, 2026. Its opening was massive. In its second weekend, the film added $69 million from 4,284 theaters in the U.S. and Canada. That brought its running domestic total to $308.1 million and its global total to $629 million at that stage alone.
The second weekend drop was 48%, a fairly modest decline for a blockbuster. That kind of hold signalled strong audience demand. Word of mouth was working.
The film cost only $110 million to produce. Against earnings now crossing $1 billion, the return on investment is extraordinary. Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends at Comscore, described the film’s weekend holds as “very respectable.”
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The voice cast
The sequel reunites the majority of the original voice cast, including Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach.
New additions expand the film’s roster considerably. Benny Safdie plays Bowser Jr., Brie Larson voices Princess Rosalina, Donald Glover voices Yoshi, and Glen Powell plays Nintendo crossover character Fox McCloud.
Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic returned to direct the sequel. Both directed the original 2023 film as well.
How it compares to the original
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is the first sequel to Illumination’s 2023 video game adaptation The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which was a $1.36 billion smash hit and is currently the sixth highest-grossing animated feature of all time.
While it won’t reach the $1.36 billion total of its predecessor, the sequel has shown the theatrical staying power of the most famous video game character of all time.
Worldwide, it is the second highest-grossing film based on a video game, behind only The Super Mario Bros. Movie, both globally and internationally. Stateside, it is also the second Illumination film to gross $400 million domestically and the second highest Illumination title overall after the original Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The first film’s reviews were notably stronger. By its second weekend in 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie had earned over $353 million domestically, a figure the sequel tracked below but still followed closely enough to remain a commercial standout.
Franchise and studio impact
With this result, the Super Mario franchise as a whole has now crossed $2 billion in total earnings, making it the ninth biggest animated franchise worldwide. It is also Chris Meledandri’s third franchise in the top 10.
Meledandri is the founder of Illumination, the studio behind the Despicable Me, Minions, and Super Mario franchises. Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise stands atop animated franchise list with $5.6 billion grossed from four main installments and two Minions spinoffs.
For Nintendo, the milestone is significant. The company entered theatrical animation in 2023 with the first Mario movie and has now built a franchise worth over $2 billion in just two releases.
2026 box office context
The film is far ahead of every other 2026 release. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ranks as the highest grossing film of the year, followed closely by Lionsgate’s Michael, Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary, and Disney’s The Devil Wears Prada 2.
The first quarter of 2026 saw the best post-pandemic start to a calendar year since 2019, with ticket sales reaching $1.77 billion worldwide in Q1. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie arriving in April gave the year its biggest single driver of revenue.
The Michael film may also be joining the $1 billion club soon. Universal is handling international distribution for most overseas markets.
Digital and home release
The film has found tremendous success on VOD, becoming available on Apple TV and Prime Video even as it continued running in theaters. That dual presence did not significantly damage its theatrical legs.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie made its way onto digital platforms on May 19. The move to home release came roughly seven weeks after its April 1 opening, a relatively fast turnaround.
What comes next
The post-credits scenes in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie set up three potential Nintendo-based follow-up films. None have been officially greenlit yet.
However, a path forward is already being laid. Illumination has dated an untitled Nintendo project for April 12, 2028. That project has not been officially named or described.
Universal, Nintendo and Illumination will be eager to get Mario and Luigi back in action given the outsized returns of both Super Mario movies.
Later in 2026, several other films could also cross $1 billion, including Avengers: Doomsday, Pixar’s Toy Story 5, the live-action Moana remake, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, and Illumination’s Minions and Monsters.
For now, Mario holds the top spot. The plumber from Nintendo has done it twice.