Universal and Illumination's animated Super Mario Bros. Movie jumped into theaters last month, and had the biggest opening ever for an animated movie (after less than a week on general release, it also became the highest-grossing film of 2023 domestically)
Now, the family-friendly video game adaptation has officially passed Disney's Frozen to become the second highest-grossing animated film of all time.
With a $560 domestic box office haul along with $727 million from international territories, Mario and Luigi's colourful adventure has taken in a massive $1.288 billion worldwide, overtaking Frozen’s $1.284 billion. The movie now trails only Frozen 2 on the all-time chart, but it will need to level-up considerable if it hopes to catch the sequel's $1.45 billion lifetime global cume.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is actually "rotten" at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, which just goes to show that some movies really are critic-proof.
"Based on the world of Nintendo’s Mario games, the film invites audiences into a vibrant, thrilling new universe unlike any created before in an action-packed, exuberant cinematic comedy event. While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt; Jurassic World and The LEGO Movie franchises) and brother Luigi (Charlie Day; It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world.
But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi. With the assistance of a Mushroom Kingdom resident Toad (Keegan-Michael Key; The Lion King) and some training from the strong-willed ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy;The Queen’s Gambit), Mario taps into his own power."
The Super Mario Bros. Movie features an extraordinary comedic cast, including Jack Black (Jumanji films) as Bowser, Seth Rogen (Neighbors franchise) as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen (Portlandia, Saturday Night Live) as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson (American Dad!, Family Guy) as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco (Green Book) as Spike, plus a special voice appearance by Charles Martinet, who has voiced the characters of Mario and Luigi in the Super Mario games for more than 30 years.