The Super Mario Galaxy Movie powers past $629 million worldwide in second weekend

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie kept climbing on family turnout, adding $69 million from 4,284 theaters in the U.S. and Canada over its second weekend and lifting its worldwide gross to $629 million. The Universal and Illumination sequel reached $308.1 million domestically in just 10 days, a pace that put it among the year’s strongest early tentpoles and gave exhibitors a spring hit with summer still ahead.

Its second-weekend drop of 48 percent was modest for a franchise film of this size, and the $110 million production budget made the run look even stronger. Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, called the hold “very respectable” and said crossing $300 million domestically was “astonishing,” especially in a market where children’s tickets often sell at lower average prices. The numbers underscored the economics behind studio strategy: a recognizable brand, a broad family audience and a budget far below the kind that can make original animated films a tougher financial climb.

The movie’s appeal also showed how studios are turning video game properties into repeatable theatrical franchises. Nintendo’s official story sends Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Yoshi into space to confront Bowser Jr. and save Rosalina, building on characters that already cross generations and platforms. Illumination says the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide, and the company says its film library has now passed $9 billion globally. That scale explains why Universal and Nintendo have leaned hard into the partnership after the sequel was announced in September 2025 and opened in U.S. theaters on April 1, 2026.

The weekend chart reinforced how sharply the market is separating event movies from everything else. Amazon MGM’s Project Hail Mary held second place with $24.6 million and a domestic total of $256.7 million, while A24’s The Drama stayed sturdier than expected in third with $8.7 million. You, Me & Tuscany opened fourth with about $8 million, drawing a largely female audience, and Disney-Pixar’s Hoppers rounded out the top five. For theaters still looking for dependable traffic, the Mario sequel offered more than a strong gross. It showed that when the intellectual property is instantly recognizable and the movie is built for parents and children alike, theatrical audiences still show up for something that feels like a sure thing.