Super Mario Galaxy Movie Opens to $372M Globally

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- Super Mario Galaxy Movie opened to $372.5M globally since Wednesday, the biggest worldwide debut for an MPA title since Avatar: Fire & Ash, with a $182.4M foreign haul across 80 markets and a $190M domestic five-day — the fourth-biggest five-day domestic opening ever, behind Moana 2, the 2023 Super Mario Bros Movie, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
- The film is now the fifth-biggest global opener for an animated film ever and the second-biggest Illumination and video-game-based opening of all time, behind only the 2023 Super Mario Bros Movie, making Super Mario the only animated franchise with two titles opening above $350M globally.
- Mexico led international markets with $29.1M on 5,136 screens — the biggest opening of the year and the fourth-biggest MPA opening in the country's history — followed by UK & Ireland ($19.7M), Germany ($15.8M), France ($13M), and Spain ($10.8M), each setting records for Universal animation openings.
- China grossed $8.4M on 28,000 screens, the No. 1 title in the market and up 29% over the equivalent opening for the first Super Mario Bros — a jump the source attributes to the IP arriving late in China as a mobile game after console games were banned, leaving room for catch-up growth.
- Project Hail Mary added $42.1M from 86 international markets in its third weekend for a $72.7M global frame and a $420.7M running global cume, with the steepest drop in France (-45%) and Brazil bucking the trend with a +16% hold.
- Disney/Pixar's Hoppers reached a $332.2M running global total after a $18.2M fifth weekend, with China ($20.4M) its top overseas market and a particularly strong -3% hold in Japan.
Why it matters: A $372.5M global debut — the biggest MPA opening since Avatar: Fire & Ash — confirms the Mario franchise's standalone commercial gravity and lifts 2026 theatrical animation, while China's 29% jump over the first film signals the IP is still gaining traction in markets where it was effectively a new arrival rather than a legacy property. Universal and Illumination now own the only animated franchise with two $350M+ global openers, reinforcing the studio's risk-adjusted bet on Nintendo IP.




