The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Had The Highest-Grossing Premiere Of 2026

Last week, we kicked off the month of April with the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and it’s been a roaring success. While critical reception has been mixed (check out our relatively positive take on the movie here), audience reception has been positive, and tickets have sold very well. According to Deadline, the Illumination-led adaptation is not just the biggest release of 2026 so far – it’s one of the biggest opening weekends for an animated film of all time.

As of the morning of Sunday, April 5, the movie amassed $372.5 million, just trailing behind the amount its predecessor made ($387.8 million) in that same time window. But despite lagging behind its metaphorical older brother, it still cracks the list of biggest openings for animated films of all time, sitting behind only Zootopia 2, Ne Zha 2, Moana 2, and the first Mario movie. This also makes it the second biggest Illumination film of all time and, so far, the biggest opening of 2026.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has audiences rejoin Mario and Luigi on a journey across the cosmos. In addition to the obvious references to the Super Mario Galaxy games, the film is jam-packed with cameos from all corners of the Mario canon, including Yoshi, Rosalina, Bowser Jr., and (everyone’s favorite) Wart. For more on the movie, check out this casting announcement from a particularly surprising character that pops up in the film.

[Source: Deadline]