The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Eyes Monster Easter Weekend at the Box Office

Early tracking data from Deadline puts The Super Mario Galaxy Movie at roughly $160 million for its first five days in US theaters. The film opens on April 1, making that window run from Wednesday through Easter Sunday.

For context, 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie posted $146.3 million across its standard Friday-through-Sunday debut before finishing its own five-day Easter run at $204.6 million. That performance ranked as the second-best Easter-weekend opening in US history, behind only Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which pulled $166 million over the same holiday frame in 2016.

The Galaxy sequel faces limited competition in its opening frame. The only notable release nearby is The Drama, starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, which is unlikely to challenge a marquee animated franchise title on a holiday weekend.

The film carries over the core cast from its predecessor: Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. New additions include Brie Larson as Rosalina, Donald Glover as Yoshi, Luis Guzman as Wart, and Benny Safdie as Bowser Jr.

The original Super Mario Bros. Movie earned over $1.36 billion worldwide, landing as 2023's second-highest-grossing film globally, just behind Barbie at $1.44 billion. I see the Galaxy follow-up entering with real commercial momentum behind it, not just franchise nostalgia.

Jack Black has publicly stated his intent to return for several more Mario films. Separately, Nintendo is developing a live-action Legend of Zelda movie with Sony, scheduled for 2027, and the company has indicated it plans a regular release cadence for Nintendo-based productions going forward.

I think the real question for the Galaxy film is not whether it opens big, but whether its five-day total can approach what the original managed under nearly identical release conditions three years ago.

Read also, Super Mario Galaxy 2 has arrived on Switch 2, bringing Nintendo's celebrated Wii platformer to a new platform with enhanced visuals, full Yoshi control, and IR pointer support — expanding access to one of the most distinctive entries in the Mario catalog.