The ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office on Monday, 8 June 2026, becoming the first film of the year to reach the milestone in its tenth weekend of release.
The animated sequel was released on 1 April 2026 and earned $428.5 million domestically and $571.5 million internationally to cross the threshold, as reported by Variety.
Produced by Universal, Illumination and Nintendo on a budget of $110 million, the film has more than tripled its production cost in theatrical revenue alone, before streaming, home video and merchandise are factored in.
The Galaxy Movie follows The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), which became a cultural milestone by dismantling the long-standing trend of video game adaptations underperforming at the box office.
That original film grossed $1.36 billion worldwide, and the sequel has now matched the feat in comparable time, suggesting the franchise’s pull is durable rather than a novelty.
How the Super Mario Galaxy Movie stacks up
The sequel brought back the entire voice cast from the 2023 original, including Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key and Jack Black, while adding Donald Glover, Glen Powell and Benny Safdie.
The decision to expand the cast with actors more associated with live-action prestige signalled that Illumination and Nintendo were treating the follow-up as a genuine event film rather than a tie-in product.
The franchise now sits at a cumulative worldwide gross of $2.3 billion across two films. That total moves the two-film Illumination series past the Madagascar franchise and into ninth place on the all-time list of highest-grossing animated franchises globally, an extraordinary climb for a series that only began three years ago.
What the Super Mario Galaxy Movie milestone means for gaming
Fewer than 20 animated films in history have crossed $1 billion at the global box office. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie now sits among them at a moment when video game adaptations are arguably the most consistent source of blockbuster revenue in Hollywood, with Nintendo proving the most successful player in that space.
The two-film run has established Nintendo as the rare gaming company with a proven theatrical model rather than a speculative one.
With an animated television series also in development and the broader IP library yet to be tapped, the studio’s Hollywood strategy appears far from complete.
A third Super Mario film has not been confirmed by Nintendo or Illumination.
But with $2.3 billion in the bank across two outings, and the Galaxy Movie still in theatres, the conversation around what comes next is already underway.
