While a major success, it’s surprising to see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie not surpass the first film’s box office. It’s now been over a month since the sequel to the hit 2023 film, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, hit theaters. It was met with negative reviews from critics, yet fans helped make the film the biggest hit of 2026 so far.
Pulling in approximately $964 million as of May 17, 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has become huge all over the world. In fact, it already has talks of sequels and a Star Fox spinoff.
However, now that Galaxy is officially heading for its digital release, it’s shocking to compare the new film with its predecessor’s box office. The Super Mario Bros. Movie ultimately outgrossed Mario Galaxy by earning $1.4 billion in its full box office run.
While Galaxy could still earn some more revenue, its box office draw has decreased significantly, especially now that the summer movie season is in full swing. Plus, with The Mandalorian and Grogu coming very soon, it’s clear that Mario’s return to the movies has ended its time in the spotlight.
So, this begs the question as to what could have happened to make this long-anticipated sequel bring in less money than its predecessor. There’s no easy answer, but there are some possible reasons that explain why.
Some Audiences Could Have Seen The Super Mario Galaxy Movie As A Disappointment
The biggest case for why Mario Galaxy likely saw a slight decrease in revenue is because some audiences were left feeling underwhelmed. The first Mario film was reliant on people seeing the film multiple times because of how much fun it was. However, when comparing the audience rankings of the two movies, it’s clear that there was a drop in moviegoer favorability.
While still a high score, the audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ended up at 88%. This is still fairly high. However, The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘s audience rating ended at 95% when it first released.
That’s a significant 7% drop, hinting that some audiences walked away from the sequel not as impressed as they were with the first. If some audiences weren’t pleased with the film, it could have resulted in fewer rewatches.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s References Might Have Overwhelmed Some Viewers
One of the biggest critiques surrounding The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was that it focused far more on references than story, especially in its second half. Since the film does lean heavily wow-factor of these big surprises, it could have resulted in more audiences seeing Galaxy as more of a one-time watch, rather than something they could see again-and-again.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie was fairly nostalgia-heavy as well. However, it still had a cohesive yet simple story to tie the references together. This structure allowed for audiences to grasp onto it easier because there was something holding everything together, while featuring fun nods to the games throughout.
Given how it was so strongly aimed at fans of the video games, Galaxy likely overwhelmed some audiences because it pushed its references higher on the priority list. They’re absolutely fun to see in the moment, but without a good story to hold them together, audiences are less likely to see it again since the surprise factor is gone on rewatch.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Could Have Turned Some Viewers Away From The Sequel
While the original Mario Bros. movie was a hit with audiences, there were absolutely some people that saw it as a disappointment. After all, it featured a hodgepodge of licensed music that didn’t fit the moments they were tied to, as well as a plot that was noticeably weak. It was absolutely a hit, but not everyone that saw it was a fan.
This ultimately could have translated to the new film with people who weren’t pleased by the original opting not to see the sequel. Given how much money The Super Mario Bros. Movie made and the prices of tickets today, a drop in sales from those not interested in Galaxy could have delivered a significant punch to the overall box office gross.
Whether it was one or all three possibilities though, there’s still no denying that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was a success. It’s still the second highest grossing video game movie of all time, and it’s kickstarted a Nintendo Cinematic Universe with its crossover potential.
- Release Date
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April 1, 2026
- Runtime
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98 Minutes
- Director
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Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc, Fabien Polack
- Writers
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Matthew Fogel
- Producers
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Chris Meledandri, Shigeru Miyamoto