The Super Mario Bros. Movie crosses $1 billion mark at worldwide box office

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is having a golden run at the box office. The Chris Pratt-starrer animated film from Universal Pictures, which was released earlier this month, has crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office.
The moviehas become 2023's first film to cross this major milestone.

Despite all the backlashthe film has faced over its casting, the moviehas raked in big bucks at the US box office since the first day of its release.

The movie collected $487.5 million in North America and $533 million internationally, taking the total collection to $1 billion. The movie has become the 10th animated film to achieve the feat and the fifth film to achieve this mark since the Covid-19 pandemic, per THR.

Other films that have crossed the $ 1 billion mark ever since the pandemic are,Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominionand Avatar: The Way of Water.

Ever since its release, the film has been shattering records. Surpassing Disney’s Marvel sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniabox office collection of $474 million, the film becomes the highest grosser of this year.

Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the film has also dethroned 2016's Warcraft movie ($210 million) as the biggest-ever worldwide opening video game movie.

The film is an animated adaptation of Nintendo's video game franchise of the same name. The movie has a Marvel star voicing the titular character, while Anya Taylor-Joy voices Princess Peach. Charlie Day is Luigi, Mario's brother.

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Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, and Fred Armisen have also lent their voices.

The official synopsis of the film reads: ''While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers Mario (Pratt) and brother Luigi (Charlie Day) are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world under threat from the powerful Bowser (Jack Black). But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi.''

The movie has gotten mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, who praised the adventurous drama for its colourful animation. The film has scored 54 per cent on the popular review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads, "While it's nowhere near as thrilling as turtle tipping your way to 128 lives, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a colourful -- albeit thinly plotted -- animated adventure that has about as many Nintendos as Nintendont's."

Talking about the film, WION's critic Kshitij Mohan Rawat called the film an adventure through Nostalgia Land.

In the review, he wrote, ''In the grand scheme of things, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a small blip on the radar of video game adaptations. It's not the worst one out there, but it's certainly not the best. However, it's a testament to the enduring popularity of the Mario franchise that people are still interested in seeing these characters on the big screen, even after all these years. One of the strengths of these games has always been their ability to appeal to a wide range of audiences. Kids and adults alike can enjoy the colourful worlds and zany characters that populate the games. The movie is able to capture that same sense of joy and wonder, bringing to life its world in a way that feels true to the source material.''Read the full review here.