Super Mario Bros Becomes Highest-Grossing Video Game Film After 1 Week

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is stomping yet another box office world record. The film, an adaptation of the iconic Mario video game franchise which comes from Despicable Me creators Illumination Entertainment, stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, and Jack Black as Bowser. The film’s opening weekend raked in the highest global opening ever for an animated film, beating out 2019’s Frozen II.

Per Collider, the Super Mario Bros. Movie cast can keep their celebration going this weekend. By the end of the day, the film will have become the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time at the global box office. Although the final numbers are not yet in, it will have surpassed the previous record-holder, 2016’s Warcraft, and its global gross of $439 million.

Super Mario Bros. is Leading a Massive Sea Change for Video Game Adaptations

Historically, most films adapted from video games have either been critical or commercial flops, and sometimes both. However, the tide has been turning recently and six of the top 10 highest-grossing video game films have come out in the past five years. This includes the 2020 hit Sonic the Hedgehog and its 2022 sequel, 2019’s Pokémon Detective Pikachu, the Dwayne Johnson vehicle Rampage, and Uncharted starring Tom Holland.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie has blown even those raised expectations out of the water. If the film, which is jam-packed with settings and characters from the iconic games – including Mario Kart‘s Rainbow Road level – has already blasted past those films’ records, it will set a new high-water mark by the time it reaches the end of its run. Almost certainly it will garner a sequel and a continuing franchise off the back of its success.

The success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie seems to show that 2023 audiences are more primed to approach a video game adaptation with enthusiasm. This was also revealed by the success of HBO’s The Last of Us series earlier this year. If upcoming video game films like Minecraft, BioShock, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 can keep up this trend, the video game adaptation might yet become one of Hollywood’s mightiest subgenres.

Source: Collider