The Super Mario Bros. Movie gets a glowing review from one of Universal's major rivals. The animated film, based on Nintendo's popular video game franchise, tracks Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom to locate his brother and prevent Bowser from causing destruction. Despite mixed reactions from critics, the movie was well-received by fans and quickly became a commercial success. After an impressive opening at the box office, The Super Mario Bros. Movie crossed $1 billion worldwide in its fourth weekend and is currently the highest-grossing film of the year.
Now, it appears the film is earning praise from one of its rivals, Bob Iger. During Disney's recent quarterly earnings call (via Video Games Chronicle), the CEO commended The Super Mario Bros. Movie and its latest achievements, adding that its success could be a promising sign for theaters. Read Iger's comments regarding The Super Mario Bros. Movie below:
"Good afternoon everyone. Allow me to digress for a moment to congratulate Universal for the tremendous success of Super Mario Bros.. It certainly proves people love to be entertained in theaters around the world, and it gives us reason to be optimistic about the movie business."
What The Super Mario Bros. Movie's Success Means
There was uncertainty surrounding The Super Mario Bros. Movie since the 1993 live-action adaptation failed to perform, but the rapid success of this new film indicates that Universal might have a franchise in the works. Not only did The Super Mario Bros. Movie break several box office records, but it appears that potential spinoffs could happen. Seth Rogen previously discussed the idea of Donkey Kong sequels, including a version of Donkey Kong Country. Upon its release, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has become the most profitable video game adaptation, along with being one of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time.
As Iger touched on, the notable success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie suggests that audiences still value the theatrical experience. With a number of highly anticipated films on the way, including multiple Disney projects, there may be more box office hits to come. In 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water managed to earn over $2 billion, and upcoming releases in The Little Mermaid and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will look to attract a lot of moviegoers as well.
Disney's animated content does well commercially, but it is unclear what the company's best chance to reach the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be. With animated video game adaptations becoming popular, it is worth wondering what other Nintendo IPs will get to the big screen. Also, given the amount of films set to come out for the remainder of 2023, it will be interesting to see which productions perform similarly.
Source: Video Games Chronicle