It took some time, but The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has finally crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office.
Nintendo and Illumination’s Mario movie sequel took 10 weekends to pass the coveted movie milestone (via Deadline). Although that means it reached $1 billion at much a slower pace than its predecessor, which took only 26 days, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is now the first and only movie to cross the box office billion mark in 2026.
With both animated adaptations finding tremendous success in theaters, the two Super Mario films have now accumulated a total of more than $2.30 billion. That lands them in the number nine spot in the list of top 10 animated franchises worldwide, with Despicable Me in first at $5.64 billion, Shrek in second at $3.98 billion, and Toy Story in third at $3.28 billion. As some of the names in the list feature franchises with as many as six total films, Mario has a good shot at shaking things up, should more sequels get the greenlight.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie took Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and even Star Fox’s Fox McCloud on an intergalactic adventure when it premiered in theaters April 1, 2026. Mixed critical response did little to stop Nintendo’s latest film from kicking off with a roaring start, as it managed to pull in $34 million on the day of its Wednesday release alone.
It’s since spun up $428.5 million domestically and $571.5 million internationally. For comparison, The Super Mario Bros. Movie ended its box office run with $574.9 million domestically and $785.8 million internationally, bringing its total to about $1.36 billion (via Box Office Mojo).
With what appears to be another home run under its belt, Nintendo is showing no sign of slowing down its film ambitions. The gaming company set an April 2028 date for its next animated movie earlier this year, and in April 2027, fans will absolutely return to theaters to catch its live-action The Legend of Zelda movie.
IGN called The Super Mario Galaxy Movie “okay” in its 6/10 review. At the time, we said it “ditches an engaging story in favor of a pipe-bursting amount of Easter eggs, but that’s not an all-together bad thing.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
