In good news for Universal, movie theaters and men who are considering buying a pair of overalls, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has crossed $1 billion at the box office, the first film of 2026 to do so.
After this weekend, Galaxy stands at $428.5 million at the domestic box office and $571.5 million internationally.
Galaxy’s predecessor, 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, earned more than $1.3 billion at the box office. Over two films, the Mario movies have become one of Hollywood’s more lucrative animated film series, coming in ninth with $2.3 billion in global ticket sales. It is joining the ranks of Inside Out ($2.56 billion, unadjusted, over two films), Kung Fu Panda ($2.37 billion, unadjusted, over four films) and Madagascar ($2.26 billion, unadjusted, over seven films). The highest-grossing animated franchise is Despicable Me, also from Universal and Illumination, which has earned $5.64 billion over six films.
Domestically, the Mario movies are the fifth-biggest animated franchise, following Despicable Me, Shrek, Toy Story and Inside Out.
Galaxy, which saw Uni re-team with animation studio Illumination and Nintendo, follows the Mario gang, including Luigi, Yoshi, Bowser and Princess Peach, on an adventure into outer space to save Princess Rosalina (Brie Larson) from Bowser (Jack Black) and his son, Bowser Jr. (Benny Safdie). Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Glen Powell and Donald Glover are also among the voice cast for the film.
Lionsgate and Universal’s Michael Jackson biopic Michael continues to inch closer to that $1 billion marker. In its seventh weekend of release, Michael has a global total of $888 million.
