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Over the weekend, Mario, Luigi, Bowser, and the rest of Nintendo\u2019s iconic crew traipsed around the solar system and smashed their way to the top of the box office in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/em>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s the latest sign that Hollywood and moviegoers have changed their tune on video game adaptations.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/em> (a sequel to 2023\u2019s The Super Mario Bros. Movie<\/em>) opened on April 8, just in time for the lead-up to Easter weekend. <\/p>\n According to studio estimates cited by CNBC<\/a>, the Illumination and Nintendo co-production earned $130.9 million over the weekend and $190.1 million in its first five days in North American theaters. Tack on an estimated $182.4 million from overseas markets, and the film grossed around $372.5 million worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It was a head-turning initial run that qualifies as the biggest box office debut since Avatar: Fire and Ash<\/em> opened in 2025, and the second-biggest<\/a> for a movie based on a video game, trailing only The Super Mario Bros. Movie<\/em>.<\/p>\n More broadly, it\u2019s another example in a recent series of financially lucrative video game movies\u2014and it shows that the subgenre might be officially getting a box office redemption arc.<\/p>\n Less than a decade ago, video-game-to-movie adaptations were considered a gamble at best<\/a> and a surefire road to fan disappointment at worst.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\nAn uphill battle for video game adaptations<\/h2>\n