This was meant to be a gateway to bond old and new generations of Mario fans together. It wasn’t meant to be some thought-provoking franchise subversion. The film may have been very light on story, just like the games, but that wasn’t the goal. From the music to the breathtaking animation, Super Mario was the near perfect adaptation. This colorful adventure was a love letter to the entire video game franchise and Nintendo’s own extended history. While other video game adaptations shied away from the source material, Universal embraced it. Mario has an almost 40-year rich history. Like Super Mario’s billion dollar pandemic counterparts, this animated gem became a pop culture phenomenon thanks to a stellar marketing campaign and a preexisting knowledge of the franchise. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Why Was Super Mario Bros. Considering the studio has an army of Minions at their disposal, that’s nothing to scoff at. However, it's just an accomplishment to be in the same conversation as those recent classics and Mario has also become the first Illumination film to cross $500 million domestically. Mario isn’t likely to catch those films, domestically or worldwide, as this famous plumber is nearing the end of his box office run. It joins Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814.1 million), Top Gun: Maverick ($718.7 million), and Avatar: The Way of Water ($683.9 million). This would make Super Mario only the fourth film of the pandemic era to cross that mark domestically. has now crossed $500 million at the US box office. However, arguably more impressive, Super Mario Bros.

It’s also only the 10th animated film to achieve that Mushroom Kingdom sized feat. The Universal and Illumination animated film, based on the iconic Nintendo video game franchise, has made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, only becoming the 52nd feature in history to cross that coveted milestone. 2023 has seen a great deal of box office success stories across multiple genres up to this point, but no film has been quite the moneymaker like The Super Mario Bros.

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