You can’t have failed to hear about the new Super Mario Bros. Movie starring Chris Pratt. It literally seems to be everywhere, with its release proving to be a huge success. So successful, in fact, that it has beaten Frozen 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film on its opening weekend.
Super Mario Bros. Movie achieved $377 million in ticket sales worldwide, easily eclipsing Frozen 2’s $358m. On its home turf, US box office sales recorded $204.6m, whilst overseas it was $173m. Quite the achievement considering critics have not been kind to the film. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critic score is only 57%. However, the audience score is remarkedly different, hitting an impressive 96%.
That Super Mario Bros. appeal
Not only do the figures make the movie an animated success, but they also give it the highest-grossing game adaptation opening weekend honour. For example, Warcraft managed $210m on its opening weekend. Or how about Sonic the Hedgehog 2 which achieved $405m total gross, a figure the Super Mario Bros. Movie has almost surpassed in a few days.
Nintendo’s Super Mario has had worldwide appeal for decades – he was voted best video game character – and that has certainly shown in this weekend’s sales figures. The movie is an origin story where two Brooklyn plumbers fall into a mysterious pipe that sends them to the Mushroom Kingdom. While Mario lands in the realm ruled by Princess Peach, his brother Luigi finds himself in the Dark Lands with the evil Bowser. Without spoiling too much – this is a game adaption after all – Mario must stop Bowser’s plans.
Starring Chris Pratt as Mario (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World), Charlie Day (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Pacific Rim) as Luigi and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit, Last Night in Soho) as Princess Peach.
Are you going to see the Super Mario Bros. Movie? Or have you seen it already? Let us know what you think.
You must be logged in to post a comment.