The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Continues Its Cosmic Box Office Domination
Universal and Illumination's animated sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, has maintained its extraordinary momentum at the box office during its second weekend in theaters. According to studio estimates released on Sunday, the film added an impressive $69 million from 4,284 theaters across the United States and Canada. This robust performance brings its running domestic total to a staggering $308.1 million.
Global Success and 2026's Top Film
Internationally, the movie has performed exceptionally well, earning $83.5 million from 81 territories during its initial run. This has propelled its worldwide cumulative earnings to an astonishing $629 million. As reported by Variety, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has officially emerged as Hollywood's highest-grossing film of 2026 so far.
The film continues to witness strong ticket sales globally and is expected to inch closer to the coveted $1 billion milestone in the coming weeks. Industry analysts predict it will contend with major upcoming releases such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Toy Story 5, and Avengers: Doomsday.
Comparison with Its Predecessor
While the sequel experienced a fairly modest decline typical for blockbusters in its first weekend, the gap between this installment and the original continues to widen. By its second weekend in 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie—which received more favorable reviews than its follow-up—had earned over $353 million domestically. Despite this, the sequel remains an unabashed hit by any measure, especially considering its production budget of only $110 million.
The movie is also helping to power up box office momentum ahead of the summer movie season, which traditionally begins in May.
Other Notable Box Office Performances
Project Hail Mary, the Ryan Gosling-led space epic, has surpassed the $500 million mark at the global box office. The film has generated $254 million overseas and $256.5 million domestically, bringing its total to $510 million after four weekends of release. Over the recent weekend, it remained the second-highest grosser, earning an estimated $24.6 million domestically and $30.6 million from 88 international markets.
In third place, A24's buzzy film The Drama, starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, took in $8.7 million in its second weekend. The movie fell only 38%, bringing its domestic total to $30.8 million and its worldwide total to $65 million.
The weekend's big new opener was Universal's travelogue romantic comedy You, Me & Tuscany, featuring Halle Bailey and Rege-Jean Page. It debuted in fourth place with an estimated $8 million from 3,151 screens, against a reported production budget of $18 million. Directed by Kat Coiro, the film arrived with mixed to positive reviews.
Disney and Pixar's Hoppers rounded out the top five in its sixth weekend with $4.1 million. The animated movie has made $354.4 million globally to date.
Another bright spot was the Japanese video game adaptation Exit 8, which made $1.4 million from only 490 theaters and landed in seventh place. Directed by Genki Kawamura and distributed by Neon, the film boasts a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Top 10 Movies by Domestic Box Office
With final domestic figures to be released on Monday, the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore, are as follows:
- The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - $69 million
- Project Hail Mary - $24.6 million
- The Drama - $8.7 million
- You, Me & Tuscany - $8 million
- Hoppers - $4.1 million
- Faces of Death - $1.7 million
- Exit 8 - $1.4 million
- A Great Awakening - $1.3 million
- Reminders of Him - $1 million
- Ready or Not 2: Here I Come - $867,000
Meanwhile, the Bollywood film Dhurandhar: The Revenge, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh, has slipped out of the top 10. The film, which became the highest-grossing Indian film at the North American box office, has earned an estimated total of $27.36 million according to Venky box office reports.
