Super Mario Bros. has done it again! The beloved video game adaptation has soared past the $500 million mark at the global box office, breaking records left and right with the same fervor that its title character usually displays while collecting power-ups. In fact, this animated adventure has already earned $260.3 million domestically and $248.4 million internationally, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023 at both the global and domestic box office, outdoing even "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania". And that's not all - "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" has now become the biggest video game adaptation in history, surpassing the earnings of "Warcraft" and "Pokémon: Detective Pikachu".
Produced by Universal, Illumination and Nintendo, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" had been in the making for decades. Nintendo was initially hesitant to return to the Mushroom Kingdom on screen after a 1993 live-action adaptation that failed spectacularly and was widely panned as one of the worst movies ever made. But with Illumination, the studio behind the "Despicable Me" and "Sing" franchises, on board, Nintendo was willing to take the plunge. Working closely with the legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who created Mario and other gaming classics like Zelda and Donkey Kong, Illumination's founder Chris Meledandri co-produced the film.
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" features an impressive voice cast, including Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Jack Black. Despite its incredible success, the film was made on a relatively modest production budget of $100 million, which is economical for an animated film. This figure is only half of what Pixar and Disney typically spend on their animated features.
In addition to breaking records, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is now the second biggest animated film since 2019 in worldwide box office terms, behind only "Minions: The Rise of Gru". With such incredible success, a sequel or spinoff announcement is likely imminent. Fans of the iconic plumber and his adventures will undoubtedly be eagerly anticipating what comes next.
