“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” defied expectations and smashed records by pulling off the most lucrative opening weekend at the box office for an animated film, a title which was previously held by the Disney sequel “Frozen 2” (2019).
Per Axios, “Super Mario” brought in $377 million in global box office sales and $204.6 million in domestic sales between Wednesday and Sunday. That also makes the movie the highest-grossing film of the year so far, besting numbers set by Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”
“Ant-Man” brought in $104 million domestically and $225 million worldwide during the same three-day window over President’s Day weekend in February, the publication noted.
Opening weekend numbers alone were also enough to make “Super Mario Bros.” the best video game adaptation film of all time, stealing that title from “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” (2022), which earned $190 million.
The movie starring Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario and Jack Black as Bowser currently has a 56% critic rating and 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Super Mario Bros. has been one of the most popular video games for nearly 40 years, and watching this joyous, colorful concoction it’s easy to see why,” wrote L.A. Weekly critic Asher Luberto.
The U.K. Times said it was “emotionally bland” but “garish enough to psychologically sedate the pre-teen Easter audience.”
Many audience reviews mentioned that the movie was kid-focused and family-friendly, unlike some recent Disney films which have added non-traditional elements such as same-sex relationships.
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“Perfect for my 11 year old,” one reviewer wrote. “She enjoyed it and it didn’t have the adult themes or conversation that I have to explain later when she ask [sic] me.”
“I took my four year old son to watch this movie as he’s super into Mario and he LOVED it. I loved the humor in the movie, the colors and animation. It is a good story line and just a great family friendly movie. I have no complaints,” another viewer gushed.
“A great movie to watch with the whole family,” a third person agreed.
“Fans of video games and especially the Super Mario series will love. A simple and sweet movie for the family filled with lots of care and love for the game series. Was smiling from ear-to-ear all the way through the movie,” another person wrote.
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids entertainment content.)