{"id":1861360,"date":"2026-04-02T10:59:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1861360"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:59:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T07:59:43","slug":"the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-breaks-records-with-34m-opening-despite-unfavourable-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1861360","title":{"rendered":"The Super Mario Galaxy Movie breaks records with $34m opening despite &#8220;unfavourable&#8221; reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/movies\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-2026\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">The Super Mario Galaxy Movie breaks records with $34m opening despite &#8220;unfavourable&#8221; reviews<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">One for the Toad.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/galaxy-header.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"A medium, close-up shot of a bewildered Princess Peach, with her mouth agape and eyes wide staring blankly, and Mario with his eyes wide and jaw dropped. Their expressions seem to match the negative reviews behind them.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"galaxy-header.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Eurogamer\/Nintendo<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1644925423.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1644925423.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/victoria-kennedy\">Victoria Phillips Kennedy<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-04-02T10:59:43+00:00\">April 2, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/super-mario-galaxy-movie-breaks-records-despite-unfavourable-reviews?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          17 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"373220c6-d6f1-45c3-a664-76feaad3ff1f\" data-name=\"The Super Mario Galaxy Movie\" data-follow-text=\"Follow The Super Mario Galaxy Movie\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following The Super Mario Galaxy Movie\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow The Super Mario Galaxy Movie\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following The Super Mario Galaxy Movie\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow The Super Mario Galaxy Movie\" title=\"Follow The Super Mario Galaxy Movie\"><br \/>\n  Follow The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>After plenty of teases, hype, and dedicated Nintendo Directs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/movies\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-2026\">The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/a> finally made its debut yesterday. And so far, reactions have been\u2026 mixed. <\/p>\n<p>You see, despite critics branding it &#8220;flat empty nothingness&#8221; and even &#8220;tortuous&#8221;, the film has certainly made an impression on cinema goers, and just celebrated the best opening day so far this year. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, it has actually broken the record for best ever April Wednesday, raking in a whopping $34m. To put that into perspective, it has bested The Super Mario Bros Movie, which brought in $31.7m on its opening back in 2023 (thanks, Deadline).<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - Official Teaser | Nintendo Direct\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_RpeLk6jJrg?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_RpeLk6jJrg\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">The Super Mario Galaxy Movie &#8211; Official Teaser | Nintendo Direct<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>What do you make of the movie, if you&#8217;ve seen it?<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_RpeLk6jJrg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But, back to those reviews. Over on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metacritic.com\/movie\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie\">Metacritic<\/a>, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie currently has a Metascore of 37, or Generally Unfavourable. &#8220;It&#8217;s now commonplace to compare programmatic stuff like this to AI, but this is almost a second evolutionary step downwards; it looks as if humans, using AI, have tried to copy something that was originally AI generated, creating a bland, simplistic template that can be sold in all global territories where it can be dubbed by local voice talent,&#8221; reads The Guardian&#8217;s one-star review. <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/reviews\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-review-chris-pratt-jack-black-1236703239\/\">Variety<\/a>, meanwhile, called the whole thing an &#8220;eager product-tie-in mess&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a different story when it comes to user reviews, though, which sit with a Metacritic score of 7.7, or Generally Favourable. &#8220;For fans, an absolute delight, the love for the Mario Games that are shown here is great!&#8221; reads one review on Metacritic. &#8220;It gets the job done with fun action, references, and humour,&#8221; adds another.\n<\/p>\n<p>Either way, it seems likely that we will see a third animated Mario film arrive in a few years time, given what a commercial success The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has been. <\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Still from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie showing Mario and Princess Peach looking upwards, mouths open in shock or awe (cropped)\" height=\"1666\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/super-mario-galaxy-movie-header-cropped.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7779111644657863\" width=\"2962\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Still from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie showing Mario and Princess Peach looking upwards, mouths open in shock or awe (cropped)\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"super-mario-galaxy-movie-header-cropped.png\" height=\"1666\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7779111644657863\" width=\"2962\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Universal Pictures<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We awarded The Super Mario Galaxy Movie two stars, with Christian Donlan calling it &#8220;quite bad, for quite interesting reasons&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t a Bowser movie, just as it isn&#8217;t really a Mario movie or a Luigi movie or a Rosalina movie or any of that jazz. There isn&#8217;t enough space and time for anything truly memorable to develop,&#8221; he wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-review\">Eurogamer&#8217;s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie review.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>After plenty of teases, hype, and dedicated Nintendo Directs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/movies\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-2026\">The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/a> finally made its debut yesterday. And so far, reactions have been\u2026 mixed. <\/p>\n<p>You see, despite critics branding it &#8220;flat empty nothingness&#8221; and even &#8220;tortuous&#8221;, the film has certainly made an impression on cinema goers, and just celebrated the best opening day so far this year. <\/p>\n<p>In fact, it has actually broken the record for best ever April Wednesday, raking in a whopping $34m. To put that into perspective, it has bested The Super Mario Bros Movie, which brought in $31.7m on its opening back in 2023 (thanks, Deadline).<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"The Super Mario Galaxy Movie - Official Teaser | Nintendo Direct\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_RpeLk6jJrg?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/_RpeLk6jJrg\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">The Super Mario Galaxy Movie &#8211; Official Teaser | Nintendo Direct<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>What do you make of the movie, if you&#8217;ve seen it?<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_RpeLk6jJrg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But, back to those reviews. Over on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metacritic.com\/movie\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie\">Metacritic<\/a>, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie currently has a Metascore of 37, or Generally Unfavourable. &#8220;It&#8217;s now commonplace to compare programmatic stuff like this to AI, but this is almost a second evolutionary step downwards; it looks as if humans, using AI, have tried to copy something that was originally AI generated, creating a bland, simplistic template that can be sold in all global territories where it can be dubbed by local voice talent,&#8221; reads The Guardian&#8217;s one-star review. <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/reviews\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-review-chris-pratt-jack-black-1236703239\/\">Variety<\/a>, meanwhile, called the whole thing an &#8220;eager product-tie-in mess&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a different story when it comes to user reviews, though, which sit with a Metacritic score of 7.7, or Generally Favourable. &#8220;For fans, an absolute delight, the love for the Mario Games that are shown here is great!&#8221; reads one review on Metacritic. &#8220;It gets the job done with fun action, references, and humour,&#8221; adds another.\n<\/p>\n<p>Either way, it seems likely that we will see a third animated Mario film arrive in a few years time, given what a commercial success The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has been. <\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Still from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie showing Mario and Princess Peach looking upwards, mouths open in shock or awe (cropped)\" height=\"1666\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/super-mario-galaxy-movie-header-cropped.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7779111644657863\" width=\"2962\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Still from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie showing Mario and Princess Peach looking upwards, mouths open in shock or awe (cropped)\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"super-mario-galaxy-movie-header-cropped.png\" height=\"1666\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7779111644657863\" width=\"2962\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Universal Pictures<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We awarded The Super Mario Galaxy Movie two stars, with Christian Donlan calling it &#8220;quite bad, for quite interesting reasons&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This isn&#8217;t a Bowser movie, just as it isn&#8217;t really a Mario movie or a Luigi movie or a Rosalina movie or any of that jazz. There isn&#8217;t enough space and time for anything truly memorable to develop,&#8221; he wrote in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-super-mario-galaxy-movie-review\">Eurogamer&#8217;s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie review.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News The Super Mario Galaxy Movie The Super Mario Galaxy Movie breaks records with $34m opening despite &#8220;unfavourable&#8221; reviews One for the Toad. Image credit: Eurogamer\/Nintendo News by Victoria Phillips Kennedy News Reporter Published on April 2, 2026 17 comments Follow The Super Mario Galaxy Movie After plenty of teases, hype, and dedicated Nintendo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1861360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1861360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1861360\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1861360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1861360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1861360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}