By Janet H. Cho
Universal Pictures and Nintendo notched the biggest box office weekend of the year with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which claimed the top spot with an estimated $372.5 million in global ticket sales through Sunday.
The film, distributed by Comcast-owned Universal, racked up nearly as much in domestic ticket sales in its first weekend as Amazon MGM's Project Hail Mary has sold over three weekends.
The PG-rated animated adventure about the characters Mario, Luigi, and friends from Nintendo's videogame is expected to sell $130.9 million domestically over the three-day Easter weekend and $190.1 million over its first five days, according to Comscore.
The movie was released across more than 4,000 screens in the U.S. and Canada. Even with upcharges for premium large-format showings, the majority of tickets were sold at lower children's ticket prices, Comscore's head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian said. He had predicted the movie would be the year's first $100 million-plus opening.
"The franchise operates in a galaxy of its own in terms of its box office potential, capitalizing on its beloved IP and benefiting from the success of the 2023 film that generated massive goodwill" and box office momentum heading into the summer movie season, Dergarabedian said.
Eric Handler, managing director and senior media and entertainment analyst at Roth, told Barron's that considering that Mario is one of the world's biggest videogame franchises, with 430 million to 450 million copies sold worldwide, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie could rake in $160 million to $200 million from Wednesday through Sunday.
Super Mario Galaxy sold another $182.4 million internationally for an estimated total of $372.5 million. That includes $22.2 million in global IMAX tickets, compared with $21.4 million for its predecessor movie.
The 2023 The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened to $204 million in domestic ticket sales over its first five days, and ultimately grossed a worldwide total of $1.36 billion, according to Universal.
Both Super Mario movies were produced by Chris Meledandri of Illumination and Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, co-financed by Universal Pictures and Nintendo. Not only do Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Pratt, Jack Black, and Keegan-Michael Key reprise their roles from the 2023 movie, but the movie reunites filmmakers Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, screenwriter Matthew Fogel, and score composer Brian Tyler.
Super Mario Galaxy and Project Hail Mary boosted the total take from this weekend's top 10 films to nearly $192.6 million of the weekend's $195.7 million in the U.S. and Canada. That brings Hollywood's year to date box office to $2.05 billion, which is 26% higher than this point in 2025, according to Comscore.
Project Hail Mary, which dominated the North American box office during the previous two weeks, sold another $30.7 million its third week, bringing its domestic cumulative total to $217.2 million, Comscore said. The PG-13-rated space adventure, based on Andy Weir's novel and starring Ryan Gosling, has sold an estimated $420.7 million worldwide.
The film has also won over international audiences, especially in Mexico with $119.4 million in ticket sales; the U.K., with $20.1 million; and Australian, with $10 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.
A24's The Drama, an R-rated romantic comedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson as a happily engaged couple navigating an unexpected revelation during their wedding week, debuted with $14.4 million in domestic ticket sales across 3,087 screens in its first weekend.
Walt Disney's and Pixar's animated adventure Hoppers took fourth place with another $5.8 million in ticket sales, bringing its domestic box office to $149.6 million since opening March 6. With an estimated $332.2 million in worldwide box office, Hoppers is one of the year's top three films globally, Comscore said.
The PG-rated Hoppers has also charmed audiences in Mexico ($232.8 million in ticket sales); China ($16.8 million); the U.K. ($14.5 million); and Germany ($11.8 million), according to BoxOfficeMojo.
Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 05, 2026 15:43 ET (19:43 GMT)
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