The new Nintendo movie is set to break all sorts of insane records — and likely change the film industry as we know it.

Related: We Now Know When the ‘Super Mario Bros Movie’ Will Hit Streaming Services
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), is produced by Illumination founder Chris Meledandri and Illumination, Universal Pictures, and Nintendo, and distributed by Universal. Based on the beloved Mario video game franchise owned by Shigeru Miyamoto’s Nintendo, the movie set in the famous Mushroom Kingdom features an all-star ensemble voice cast, including Chris Pratt as the iconic Mario, Anya Taylor Joy as Princess Peach, and Charlie Day as Mario’s loyal brother Luigi. The villainous Bowser is voiced by Jack Black, while Keegan Michael Key brings life to Toad. The cast also includes Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek. Charles Martinet, who typically voices Mario and Luigi in the games, makes cameo appearances throughout the film as their father and Giuseppe.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, with a screenplay by Matthew Fogel, the movie has been highly anticipated by movie-going audiences since the trailer was released last year.
Now, it appears that this Italian plumber and his friends are going to change everything we think we know about the film industry.

Related: The Incoming Rise of Nickelodeon Movies (and Disney’s Inevitable Fall)
How well is The Super Mario Bros. Movie actually doing?
It appears that the brand-new Super Mario Bros. franchise movie is absolutely dominating.
Despite the not-so-great critic reviews for the movie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has managed to maintain a steady stream of positive audience reviews. With word of mouth and this favorable public perception no doubt helping, the film’s opening box office has exploded. With predictions of these numbers already showing the Nintendo intellectual property set to dominate The Walt Disney Company’s past successes with Frozen 2/Frozen II (2019), now the astonishing opening box office has been confirmed by BenjiSales, a journalist known for covering video game sales, data and social metrics.

Benji excitedly relates the news of The Super Mario Bros. Movie being the “biggest opening ever” for an animated movie, sharing the domestic, international and global openings — and how an “$1+ billion box office run” is now basically guaranteed:
It’s done it. The Super Mario Bros Movie is officially the Biggest Opening Ever for an animated movie beating Frozen II
– Domestic: $204.6m
– International: $172.9m
– Global: $377.5m$1+ Billion Box Office Run is now locked in. Incredible result for Nintendo and Illumination
It's done it. The Super Mario Bros Movie is officially the Biggest Opening Ever for an animated movie beating Frozen II
– Domestic: $204.6m
– International: $172.9m
– Global: $377.5m$1+ Billion Box Office Run is now locked in. Incredible result for Nintendo and Illumination pic.twitter.com/HjwBG2v3O9
— Benji-Sales (@BenjiSales) April 9, 2023
This “incredible result” comes with the likely reshaping of the film industry — if this Mario movie truly exceeds a billion at the end of its theatrical run, it’s safe to say that we have a massive contender set to topple the likes of Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with their groundbreaking Avengers: Endgame (2019) taking. With so many superhero movies slated to release and the MCU expanding exponentially into their Multiverse Saga, while James Gunn over at DC Studios’ DC Universe (DCU) tries his hand at crafting an entire DC-centric world, it seems that superhero genre films are going to have some real competition.
Perhaps it’s only a matter of time for when big studios stop investing in the superhero machine and start looking at video games (and animation) as their true golden goose. Perhaps the era of superhero fatigue is over.
What do you think of The Super Mario Bros. Movie potentially grossing $1 billion? Do you think the film industry might shift in the future? Share your thoughts in the comments below!