'Super Mario Galaxy Movie' Eyes $350M Box Office Global Opening

Key Points:

• Illumination/Nintendo/Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is projected to earn around $350 million worldwide over the Easter stretch, with $175 million from 4,000 theaters in the U.S./Canada and another $175 million from 79 international markets excluding Japan, which will release later on April 24.
• The movie is set to post the biggest opening year-to-date for an MPA title globally, surpassing Project Hail Mary’s $141 million and China’s Pegasus 3 with $152 million, and is expected to outperform the international gross of the first Super Mario Bros movie.
• Japan was the top international market for the 2023 Super Mario Bros movie with nearly $102 million, followed by Mexico, the UK, France, and Germany, while markets like China, Korea, the Middle East, and Poland are either lower grossing or delaying release due to geopolitical issues.
• U.S. advance ticket sales for Super Mario Galaxy are slightly ahead of the first movie’s, which opened to $146.1 million over three days and $204.6 million over five days during Easter 2023; however, studios are cautiously optimistic about surpassing a $200 million five-day opening.
• Also opening widely is A24’s The Drama, starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson, with advance sales ahead of previous A24 releases, expected to earn around $12 million; meanwhile, Amazon MGM’s Project Hail Mary continues strong with over $30 million projected in its third weekend.