It should come as no surprise, but the recently released Super Mario Galaxy Movie is a hit. We’re only one day into its opening week and Universal/Illumination’s sequel has broken a couple of box office records. As Deadline reports, the movie opened to $34.5 million on Wednesday, making it the best opening day for a film in 2026 so far and the best opening day in April ever.
For comparison, the first Super Mario Bros. Movie opened in April 2023 to a $31.7 million take. While both films rank below a number of other Illumination pictures, including a bunch of Minions films, it’s still a very impressive opening for an animated film. Analysts aren’t sure if the Galaxy Movie will best the first’s five-day total (which includes Wednesday, Thursday, and opening weekend), but I doubt anyone is worried. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is popular and will continue to be popular for the next few weeks.
RelishMax, a website which tracks social media engagement across various topics, gave a rather glowing report for the Galaxy movie. “Convo runs positive for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie because Yoshi is the headline asset and the room basically melts on contact,” reads the outlet. “Glover chatter lands as a pleasant surprise, not a stunt. Nintendo music cues are doing real nostalgia labor. Fans like the character mix and the world-building breadcrumb trail. The movie also gets a small but useful halo from comparisons where Mario is seen as delivering what Minecraft or Disney did not. ‘Donald Glover’s voice for Yoshi is actually spot on’ and ‘the musical cue when Yoshi peeks out of the pipe is masterful scoring.’”
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now playing in theaters nationwide. It is set to premiere in Japan on April 24, 2026.
Check out more Mario content
Super Mario Galaxy 1 + 2 are Tetris 99’s 52nd Maximus Cup theme
Mario Kart World’s latest update adds chaotic new Bob-Omb Blast mode
Leave a Comment
Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
