The Super Mario Bros Movie is eyeing box office records following a fast start

The Super Mario Bros Movie has made an impressive start at the box office following its release on Wednesday.

In the US, Illumination and Universal’s Nintendo video game adaptation is heading for a huge $195 million five-day opening, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The figure includes a projected $137 million for the three-day weekend, which would top Finding Dory ($135.1 million) to rank as the second-best launch of all time for an animated film at the US box office behind Incredibles 2.

The film is already certain to achieve the best start for a video game adaptation, the top opening for a film from Despicable Me and Minions maker Illumination, and the largest movie launch of the year to date.

And if it hits its projections, the Mario movie would be the second-biggest five-day launch in US history behind the first Transformers film.

After earning $62.5 million in its first two days outside of the US, Deadline also reported on Friday that the film could rake in over $300 million worldwide by the end of the weekend.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu is currently the highest-grossing film based on a video game, having brought in almost $450 million worldwide following its release in 2019, according to Box Office Mojo.

While it’s off to a fast start at the box office, the Super Mario Bros Movie has divided viewer opinion.

Among professional critics, it currently has a 56% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. It appears to be doing notably better with movie-goers, however, with over 5,000 verified reviews on the site delivering a current average score of 96%.

Further reading

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Review: The Super Mario Bros Movie is the best video game film ever, despite playing it safe

Illumination's movie doesn't take bold risks but is a faithful adaptation

VGC’s own Super Mario Bros Movie review called it the best video game film yet.

“The Super Mario Bros Movie may not take any major risks, but it’s a faithful adaptation of the games and will appeal to children and fans of the series alike,” our critic wrote.