The Mushroom Kingdom has officially gone supernova at the box office. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie debuted in theaters yesterday and immediately blasted past expectations with a $34 million U.S. opening day, setting new records for both 2026’s biggest opening day so far and the highest-grossing April Wednesday ever. The twist: critics are largely unimpressed—yet audiences are showing up in force, and they’re scoring it far more kindly than reviewers.
This is the new reality of blockbuster game adaptations: critical consensus can be ice-cold, but if the fanbase is fed, the numbers don’t lie. And right now, Mario’s numbers are screaming.
The Record-Breaking $34M Opening (And What It Actually Means)
Let’s start with the headline figure: $34 million in the U.S. on opening day. That’s not just “good for an animated sequel” good—that’s “best opening day of the year so far” good, beating Project Hail Mary’s $33.1 million.
It also sets a very specific but very real benchmark: the best-ever April Wednesday opening, topping The Super Mario Bros. Movie which pulled $31.7 million on its opening day back in 2023. That comparison matters because it’s the clearest apples-to-apples yardstick for how this sequel is performing right out of the gate—and by that measure, Galaxy is already outpacing the film that proved Mario could dominate cinemas in the first place.
There’s also a bigger weekend narrative forming. The film is projected to reach $350 million worldwide across the five-day Easter weekend, which would be slightly below the $377 million achieved by the 2023 movie over the same kind of holiday runway. That “slightly lower” qualifier is important: even if it doesn’t surpass the first film’s holiday haul, $350 million is still the kind of number studios build entire animated slates around.
And if the early multi-day trajectory holds, the domestic milestones could get even louder. The film is being positioned to potentially land the biggest U.S./Canada opening year-to-date, and—depending on how the 3-day and 5-day totals shake out—could rank among the biggest recent domestic openings in those windows.
In other words: the launch isn’t just strong. It’s strategically strong—timed, positioned, and performing like a studio that knows exactly what kind of event it’s selling.
Critics vs. Fans: A Brutal Split That’s Becoming the Mario Movie Brand
Here’s where the story gets spicy. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is currently sitting at a Metascore of 37 on Metacritic, labeled “Generally Unfavourable.” That’s not “mixed.” That’s critics planting a flag and saying, loudly, that this ride didn’t work for them.
Some of the pull quotes floating around are downright savage. The film has been described by critics as “flat empty nothingness” and even “tortuous.” One prominent one-star review argues the movie feels like a kind of creative photocopy—something so programmatic it resembles a human-made imitation of something that was already algorithmic. Another critic take calls it an “eager product-tie-in mess.” That’s the vibe: glossy, loud, and (to some reviewers) hollow.
But audiences? Audiences are basically playing a different game.
On Metacritic, user reviews are sitting at 7.7 (“Generally Favourable”). Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the split is even more dramatic: 43% critic score versus a 92% audience score. That’s not a gap—that’s a canyon.
And the user sentiment is exactly what you’d expect from a fan-forward sequel: people praising it as “an absolute delight” and applauding the action, references, and humour. The film is repeatedly framed as “one for the fans,” and that phrase is doing a lot of heavy lifting here—in both directions.
Because “for the fans” can mean “a lovingly stuffed toybox of game DNA.” It can also mean “a movie that assumes you’ll clap at recognition instead of caring about story.” The early reception suggests Galaxy is firmly in that tension point—and the box office suggests the fanbase is perfectly happy to live there.
There’s also a telling comparison point: the first animated Mario film’s critic score is cited as 59%, while this one is currently sitting at 43% with critics and 92% with audiences (compared to the first film’s 95% audience score). So yes, the sequel is taking a bigger critical beating—but it’s not losing the crowd.
If anything, this is starting to look like a pattern: Mario’s animated films may be evolving into critic-proof crowd-pleasers, where the “review discourse” and the “ticket-buying reality” barely interact.
Nintendo, Illumination, and the Fox McCloud Curveball (Yes, Really)
One of the most fascinating confirmed details about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is that it doesn’t just expand Mario’s world—it apparently nudges at Nintendo’s broader universe in a way the 2023 film didn’t.
The movie introduces Fox McCloud—and the behind-the-scenes story is wild, because it reportedly wasn’t Nintendo’s idea to include him. The pitch came from Illumination boss Chris Meledandri, and it required Nintendo to bend a long-standing philosophy.
Nintendo creator Shigeru Miyamoto explained that Nintendo tends to “avoid mixing IPs.” That’s a huge statement, because it’s basically the corporate doctrine that has historically kept Nintendo’s worlds in their own lanes (outside of very specific crossover brands like Smash). Miyamoto ultimately agreed to the idea, and one of the reasons given is that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie takes place in space—and Fox is, of course, a character associated with flying and spacefaring.
Even the casting has a “this could only happen in 2026” energy: Glen Powell ended up voicing Fox, and the story goes that Powell had already pitched himself for the role—without knowing Nintendo and Illumination were even planning to include Fox.
This matters for two reasons.
First, it signals that Nintendo and Illumination are at least willing to experiment with the borders of the “Mario movie universe,” even if it requires internal rule-breaking. Second, it raises the obvious question: if Fox can show up because “space,” what else becomes possible if the next film’s setting or premise creates the right excuse?
That’s how cinematic universes happen—not with a press release, but with a single “exception” that proves the rule is negotiable.
The Viral Charlie Day Interview That’s Probably Giving Nintendo Heartburn
As if the box office/critic split wasn’t enough, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie also has a viral PR moment on its hands—thanks to Charlie Day, the voice of Luigi.
During a cast interview event in Tokyo, Day was asked a seemingly harmless question: who is his favorite Luigi in “recent American history”? Day laughed, then answered: himself first… and “Luigi Mangione” second. The room’s reaction—laughter, surprise, and visible “oh no” energy from fellow cast members—helped turn the clip into instant sharebait.
The reason it’s controversial is the real-world association: Luigi Mangione is facing charges for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City on December 4, 2024, after which a manhunt led to Mangione’s arrest days later. Mangione later became a strange kind of internet fixation, boosted by meme culture and public anger toward insurance companies—leading to Luigi-themed jokes and even Nintendo-adjacent costuming in online fandom spaces.
That’s the kind of real-world baggage Nintendo typically avoids like a blue shell. And while the comment was clearly delivered as a laugh-getter in a chaotic interview moment, it’s exactly the sort of viral quote that can ricochet far beyond the intended audience—especially when the film is in its opening-weekend spotlight.
Whether Nintendo responds publicly remains to be seen. But it’s hard to imagine the company being thrilled that one of the movie’s biggest stars casually linked Luigi to a real-world criminal case—especially in a clip that’s now traveling faster than a Launch Star.
Home Release Pre-Orders Are Already Live (But the Date Isn’t)
Nintendo and Universal aren’t waiting around to monetize the post-theatrical crowd. Retail listings for the home release are already live, including DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Blu-ray options.
Pricing varies by edition, with listings ranging from roughly £10/$20 up to £35/$40 for a premium Ultra HD Steelbook option (which also bundles the standard Blu-ray). There’s also a Walmart-exclusive “Tin Egg” version of the 4K release, which was reported as sold out at the time it was spotted.
The big catch: no official home release date has been announced. Some listings show “31st December 2026”—but that’s explicitly being treated as a placeholder date rather than a real target.
There is, however, a precedent-based expectation floating around: the 2023 film hit cinemas in April and then landed for home release on June 13, with streaming later in the year. Whether Galaxy follows that same window hasn’t been confirmed, but the early retail push suggests the pipeline is already in motion.
Why This Opening Matters More Than the Review Score
A $34 million opening day doesn’t just buy bragging rights—it buys leverage.
It strengthens the case that Illumination’s Mario films are a reliable commercial machine, even when critics aren’t on board. It also reinforces a lesson Hollywood has been learning (and relearning) since game adaptations started getting serious: if you nail the fan-service baseline—visual fidelity, recognizable beats, a steady drip of references—you can generate “event” energy even when the story is being dragged.
And yes, that can be frustrating if you want these films to aim higher. But it’s also a reality check: audiences are voting with wallets, and right now they’re voting for a Mario sequel that critics are calling thin but fans are calling fun.
There’s also a forward-looking implication baked into all this success. With numbers like these, it’s increasingly hard to imagine this being the end of the animated Mario run. The commercial performance alone makes the prospect of a third film feel less like speculation and more like inevitability—even if no official announcement has been made.
What Remains Unknown
Even with the opening-day fireworks, there are still major unanswered questions:
- Worldwide box office totals beyond the early U.S. opening day haven’t been fully confirmed yet, including how the film performs market-by-market.
- The projected $350 million worldwide five-day Easter weekend figure is still a projection, not a final result.
- No official home release date has been announced for DVD/Blu-ray/4K or streaming; current retail dates include placeholders.
- It’s unclear whether Nintendo or the film’s partners will address Charlie Day’s viral “Luigi Mangione” comment publicly.
- While Fox McCloud’s inclusion is confirmed and contextualized by Miyamoto, the broader implications for future Nintendo character crossovers haven’t been formally outlined.
For now, the headline is simple: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie may be getting roughed up by critics, but it’s already winning where it counts—at the box office. And if this opening is any indication, Mario doesn’t need universal acclaim to pull off another star-powered victory lap.
