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Just two movies in, Super Mario is one of the 10 biggest animation franchises ever
With more than $2 billion at the box office over two films, Super Mario Bros. is proving that the Nintendo icon isn't just for gaming anymore
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Mario has been one of the most recognizable faces in gaming for more than 40 years, so his transition into a cinematic icon seems inevitable. However, Nintendo probably didn’t expect the first two films in the Super Mario Bros. film series to cross the $2 billion box office threshold quite so quickly. Thanks to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie grossing nearly $750 million so far, the series has already become one of the top ten most successful animation franchises of all time.
The first Super Mario Bros. Movie was a box office behemoth in its own right, grossing well over $1.3 billion when it opened in 2023. With that kind of success, it was inevitable that the sequel would be huge. The $2 billion box office performance of the combined movies puts the series just behind a trio of Disney films with massive sequels. Zootopia ($2.8 billion), Frozen ($2.7 billion), and Inside Out ($2.5 billion) are the next obstacles for Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi to overcome on their way up the charts.
Illumination, which has animated both Super Mario Bros. movies, currently holds the top spot on the all-time animation franchise box office with its Despicable Me series. Between the four mainline films and two Minions spin-offs, they’ve amassed a staggering $5.6 billion box office total so far. Mario has a lot of catching up to do there.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has so far grossed $747.4 million at the box office and looks likely to match the $1.3 billion box office total of its predecessor. While Nintendo hasn’t confirmed a third movie is in the works, we’d be shocked if they weren’t already in talks with Illumination to level up the franchise one more time.
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