Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$195,694,732 | +103.1% Last Week / -3.46% Weekend 14, 2025
When you double to box office from last week, thatsa big win, as Mario would say. Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie performed a bit under its predecessor, but you will not hear exhibitors complaining as the movie packs in the under-12’s (and their parents). We were still down year-over-year from when A Minecraft Movie exploded.
- Top Title: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Universal) | $130.9M / 4,252 Screens / $30,795 PSA | Week 1
- Top Opener: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Universal) | $130.9M / 4,252 Screens / $30,795 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Universal) | $130.9M / 4,252 Screens / $30,795 PSA | Week 1
1. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
Universal/Illumination | New
$130.9M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $190M 5-Day Opening Weekend | $372.48M Global Total
Universal Pictures and Illumination have kicked off The Super Mario Galaxy Movie with a robust $130.9M opening, the animation house’s second biggest after 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($146.36M). Since opening Wednesday/Thursday (only 3,821 screens those two days) to take advantage of spring breaks across the country and counter Easter Sunday drop-off, the movie has earned an estimated $190M compared to the first’s $204.6M 5-Day.
Our first $100M+ debut of 2026 earned a $30,795 Per Screen Average from 4,252 locations, and is on-par with Frozen II‘s 3-Day in 2019 ($130.26M) while also higher than DreamWorks Animation’s all-time opening champ Shrek the Third ($121.6M). Audience reception was fairly warm, with an 89% audience score and “A-” CinemaScore.
Here’s how the 5-Day looked, including day-for-day comparisons to the 2023 movie…
- Wednesday – $34.5M ($31.7M in 2023)
- Thursday – $24.6M ($26.56M in 2023)
- Friday – $48.6M ($54.8M in 2023)
- Saturday – $51.46M ($56.98M in 2023)
- Sunday – $30.87M ($34.56M in 2023)
Galaxy’s performance represents a -10.9% drop from the previous film, which may have resulted from poor critical reception (41% Rotten on RT). Initial forecasts had this as high as $160M 3-Day, but in the last two weeks we realized it was going to come in under the original and not match A Minecraft Movie numbers from last year. While Universal may be a bit disappointed at the lack of growth and what that might mean for franchising/spin-off potential, this is actually business-as-usual for Illumination. The animation unit’s part two’s have uniformly opened lower than the previous, with the notable exception of Despicable Me 2 (Despicable Me 3 & 4 performed below 2)…
Minions: The Rise of Gru – ($107M opening, -6.9% drop)
Despicable Me 2 – ($83.5M opening, +48.2% increase)
The Secret Life of Pets 2 – ($46.65M opening, -55.7% drop)
Sing 2 – ($22.3M opening, -37.1%)
Of course, not every studio needs perpetual growth to remain profitable, especially if merchandising remains a cash cow, which is certainly the case with Mario having a Universal Parks wing for cross-promotion. Illumination has Minions & Monsters this summer, with more Sing and Pets on the way as well.
Audiences skewed 62% male and 51% in the below age 25 bracket, with under-12’s representing 28% of ticket buyers. Here’s how demographics looked…
- Caucasian – 38%
- Hispanic – 32%
- African American – 14%
- Asian – 13%
- NATAM/Other – 3%
Overseas Super Mario Galaxy was fairly simpatico with domestic, taking in $182.4M from more than 54,000 screens in 80 markets for a global total of $372.48M. This is actually bigger than the first Mario’s international debut, while also the biggest international debut for a video game movie. Top markets were Mexico ($29.1M), UK & Ireland ($19.7M), and Germany ($15.75M).
3. The Drama
A24 | New
$14.38M 3-Day Opening Weekend | $28M Global Total
A24’s attempts to market The Drama more as a rom com than the film’s ultimately disturbing core subject matter paid off, with a $14.38M 3-Day debut on 3,087 screens for a $4,658 PSA. Audience reactions were solid enough considering the bait-and-switch, with 77% critical on RT alongside 81% audience score and “B” CinemaScore.
The studio seems pleased with the movie becoming a talking point as well as a hit with the under-35 crowd (80% positive). This performance is also on par with previous Zendaya-starrer Challengers, which opened to $15M in April 2024 before totaling $50M domestic. Last year’s Robert Pattinson-led Mickey 17 opened to $19M before stalling out at $46.1M. The Drama should ultimately play akin to both of these films.
Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $1.7M in Thursday previews…
- Friday – $6.4M
- Saturday – $4.6M
- Sunday – $3.3M
Overseas the movie has made a mark in select major territories including the UK and France for a $13.6M international take totaling out to $28M WW.
Other Notable Performances
Amazon/MGM’s Project Hail Mary posted another solid hold with an estimated $30.65M at #2, taking its domestic past $200M ($217.18M) and global across the $400M mark ($420.7M). For directors Lord & Miller the film has now shot past both 21 ($138.4M) and 22 Jump Street ($191.7M) and, yes, Solo: A Star Wars Story ($213.8M). It is quite likely to shoot past The LEGO Movie ($258M domestic/$470.8M WW) to become the duo’s top grosser.
Roadside Attractions’ Easter programmer A Great Awakening about the meeting between Evangelical Methodist founder George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin took in $2.1M over the 3-Day from 1,289 screens for a $1,639 PSA. Receiving very few mainstream reviews, the faith-based movie has a 97% audience score and “A+” CinemaScore to open at #6 on the charts.
Next Weekend
After A24 launched the dark-themed The Drama to reasonable success, Universal is giving audiences true rom-com counter-programming with the lighter You, Me & Tuscany. Headlined by The Little Mermaid‘s Halle Bailey and Bridgerton hunk Regé-Jean Page, this one should have the female audience sewn up tight next frame so long as it does not read too much like a Netflix/Hallmark streaming movie in theaters. The studio already turned Reminders of Him into a solid earner at $45.35M and counting.
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 14 – 2026
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $195,694,732 | (-3.46% vs 2025)
| Title | Distributor Long Name | Wk | Estimated Weekend Gross | Cume | Locs Reported | Avg/Loc |
| The Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Universal | 1 | $130,940,000 | $190,053,000 | 4252 | $30,795 |
| Project Hail Mary | Amazon MGM Studios | 3 | $30,653,869 | $217,181,000 | 3907 | $7,846 |
| The Drama | A24 | 1 | $14,380,198 | $14,380,198 | 3087 | $4,658 |
| Hoppers | Disney | 5 | $5,800,000 | $149,624,515 | 3290 | $1,763 |
| Reminders of Him | Universal | 4 | $2,200,000 | $45,352,000 | 2361 | $932 |
| A Great Awakening | Roadside Attractions | 1 | $2,113,565 | $2,113,565 | 1289 | $1,640 |
| They Will Kill You | Warner Bros. | 2 | $1,930,000 | $8,757,000 | 2778 | $695 |
| Dhurandhar The Revenge | Moviegoers Entertainment Ltd | 3 | $1,852,523 | $26,243,990 | 464 | $3,993 |
| Ready or Not 2: Here I Come | Searchlight | 3 | $1,800,000 | $20,173,331 | 2050 | $878 |
| Scream 7 | Paramount | 6 | $915,000 | $120,548,000 | 1130 | $810 |
| GOAT | Sony | 8 | $800,000 | $102,468,000 | 1114 | $718 |
| Rabb Da Radio 3 | Omjee’s Cine World | 1 | $704,388 | $704,388 | 50 | $14,088 |
| N/A | ||||||
| Undertone | A24 | 4 | $389,703 | $19,535,392 | 370 | $1,053 |
| Fantasy Life | Greenwich Entertainment | 2 | $322,000 | $361,457 | 215 | $1,498 |
| Forbidden Fruits | IFC Films | 2 | $271,000 | $2,036,893 | 500 | $542 |
| AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, The | Focus Features | 2 | $270,000 | $1,191,000 | 786 | $344 |
| Palestine ’36 | MPI Media | 3 | $130,102 | $297,454 | 65 | $2,002 |
| Avatar: Fire and Ash | 20th Century Studios | 16 | $54,000 | $404,277,391 | 80 | $675 |
| EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert | Neon Rated | 7 | $38,500 | $13,535,539 | 87 | $443 |
| Miroirs No. 3 | 1-2 Special | 3 | $30,885 | $134,237 | 30 | $1,030 |
| The Stranger | Music Box Films | 1 | $20,500 | $20,500 | 2 | $10,250 |
| Marc by Sofia | A24 | 3 | $19,287 | $247,342 | 50 | $386 |
| Send Help | 20th Century Studios | 10 | $17,000 | $64,729,602 | 35 | $486 |
| Alpha | Neon Rated | 2 | $15,000 | $191,448 | 51 | $294 |
| The Blue Trail | Independent Films | 1 | $7,949 | $14,806 | 2 | $3,974 |
| Kontinental ’25 | 1-2 Special | 2 | $6,763 | $16,376 | 4 | $1,691 |
| A Magnificent Life | Sony Pictures Classics | 2 | $4,846 | $128,375 | 24 | $202 |
| John Lilly And The Earth Coincidence Control Office | Oscilloscope Pictures | 2 | $4,521 | $9,382 | 3 | $1,507 |
| Natchez | Oscilloscope Pictures | 10 | $3,133 | $190,875 | 6 | $522 |
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