‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ powers up the box office with the year’s biggest debut

Nintendo? More like Ninten-dough. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has taken over the top spot at the box office in the year’s biggest global film debut.

The animated sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie took in just under $131 million domestically in its first weekend, and worldwide, it earned $372.5 million, according to Box Office Mojo. As per Variety, that’s the biggest debut of the year, smashing the record previously set by Project Hail Mary. The Ryan Gosling sci-fi film took in just over $97 million worldwide when it debuted in March.

The Super Mario franchise is now the only animated franchise to have two installments each open with over $350 million globally, notes Variety.

Project Hail Mary slipped to #2 this weekend with $30.6 million, while A24’s new Robert Pattinson/Zendaya dark comedy, The Drama, debuted at #3 with just under $14.4 million.

The only other new debut in the top 10 was A Great Awakening, a historical drama about the real-life friendship between Benjamin Franklin and English priest and preacher George Whitefield. It came in at #6 with $2.1 million.

Here are the top 10 films at the box office:

1. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie — $130.9 million
2. Project Hail Mary — $30.65 million
3. The Drama — $14.38 million
4. Hoppers — $5.8 million
5. Reminders of Him — $2.2 million
6. The Great Awakening — $2.11 million
7. They Will Kill You — $1.9 million
8. Dhurandhar The Revenge — $1.82 million
9. Ready or Not 2: Here I Come — $1.8 million
10. Undertone — $1.07 million

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.