It’s unusual for entertainment executives to cross into “enemy lines” and praise their competitors. Then again, The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) is not your usual film.
The Super Mario movie smashed records, making $377 million during its five-day opening weekend. It surpassed Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Frozen 2 (2019) as the highest-grossing opening for an animated movie in history. And Disney CEO Bob Iger took notice.
Iger opened The Walt Disney Company’s quarterly earnings call on Wednesday with praise for Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Nintendo. He congratulated the companies on the “tremendous success” of The Super Mario Bros. Movie and said it gives Disney “optimism” about the animated movie business.
After multiple recent flops from Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, including Lightyear (2022) and Strange World (2022), fans are eager for the return of successful animation. The theatrical release industry has somewhat struggled to bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic – Disney’s Encanto (2021) had a meager opening weekend but quickly boomed into one of the most popular animated films on Disney+.
More on The Super Mario Bros. Movie
The Super Mario Bros. Movie premiered on April 5 and stars Chris Pratt (Mario), Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach), Charlie Day (Luigi), Jack Black (Bowser), Keegan-Michael Key (Toad), Seth Rogen (Donkey Kong), Fred Armisen (Cranky Kong), Kevin Michael Richardson (Kamek), and Sebastian Maniscalco (Spike).
“For the first time, the iconic global entertainment brands Illumination and Nintendo join forces to create The Super Mario Bros. Movie, a new, big-screen adventure starring one of pop culture’s most prominent plumbers of the past four decades,” the official film synopsis reads. “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.”
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