Mario movie breaks records for biggest game adaptation opening

The Super Mario Bros Movie has broken box office records on its opening weekend, generating $204.6 million in the US and $377 million globally.

Variety reported that the Nintendo and Illumination movie performed above expectations and beat the opening weekends of fellow Universal Pictures-produced films such as Jurassic World Dominion ($145 million in domestic box office).

In the US, The Super Mario Bros Movie became the highest grossing debut of 2023, taking over Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which debuted earlier this year at $106.1 million. It's also Illumination's highest grossing debut in the US, taking over 2015's Minions.

It also beat Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as the highest grossing debut for a game adaptation domestically – the Sonic sequel generated $72.1 million during its opening weekend in 2022.

The Mario film also became the biggest opening of 2023 globally, again beating Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the biggest video game adaptation opening of all time (the previous record was held by 2016's Warcraft at $210 million).

As a frame of reference, Variety noted that the Super Mario Bros Movie cost Nintendo, Illumination and Universal around $100 million to make.

The film was originally announced in 2018 and due to release in 2022 before it settled for an April 2023 release date.

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