Mario whirlwind around the world! The Super Mario Brothers Movie” is becoming a cultural phenomenon.

Last Updated on 04/16/2023 by てんしょく飯

The Super Mario Brothers Movie was released overseas on 5 April. The film has received overwhelming support from audiences and has conquered a number of opening records, causing tremors among film fans and in the industry. And outside the theatre, the Super Mario Bros fever is also taking over.

It overtook Frozen II to become the no! ‘First ever, biggest ever’ records set one after another.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, co-produced by Nintendo and film production company Illumination, has become the number one film in the United States, grossing $204,630,730 (¥27,297,780,000) in the five-day US box office. With a worldwide box office of $375,579,730 (¥50,106,090,000), it surpassed the record of Frozen II, which had previously reigned at No. 1, and set the record for the biggest opening in the history of animated films.

It also surpassed Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantomania, which was released in February this year, to become the world’s biggest opening for a film released in 2023. It has also surpassed Minions as the biggest opening box office success in the history of Illumination films. Among films based on video game software, the film has surpassed Warcraft to set the world’s largest opening box office, breaking various previous film industry records.

Outside the theatre, too, The Super Mario Bros. fever!

Some say The Super Mario Bros Movie is on par with 2022’s Top Gun Maverick, the theatre’s saviour in a Hollywood still under the influence of Corona. The “craze” is also happening outside the theatre.

Firstly, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood, which opened for the first time outside Japan in February 2023, is extremely popular, with three-hour waits at its worst. It has been swamped by celebrities such as Marvel actor Brie Larson, Grammy Award-winning rapper Meghan Gee Stallion, world-famous DJ Zedd, Grammy Award-winning singer Anderson Park and popular actor and model couple Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin. The event has become as popular as a social phenomenon.

Businesses are also under the spell of the Super Mario Bros. Burger chain Shake Shack unveiled a special menu including a “Gold Star Shake”, and Grammy Award-winning rapper Chance the Rapper attended the unveiling event. Grammy Award-winning rapper Chance the Rapper also attended the unveiling event, where he expressed his love for Super Mario Bros, saying, “It’s a childhood dream come true.”

Luxury hot sauce brand TRUFF also released The Super Mario Bros. Movie collectible packs containing three truffle hot sauces, named after the “mushrooms” that are closely associated with the film. This has attracted attention as a unique collaboration.

This kind of buzz outside the theatre has been a catalyst for the film’s popularity, with Super Mario Bros. fever heating up among fans even before its release.

At WonderCon, held in March just before the release of the film, cosplay of Mario and Princess Peach was conspicuous, indicating that attention was rising in the lead-up to the film’s release. Incidentally, speaking of cosplay, every year Halloween reflects the biggest trends of the year, and Super Mario-related cosplay is sure to be a trend in 2023.

The toy and video game industry is also benefiting from the popularity of ‘Mario’.

The impact of the theatrical release of The Super Mario Brothers Movie has reached a variety of industries.

When the British consultancy Omdia published its latest study in March 2023, showing that global consumption of games will reach USD 215 billion by 2027, surpassing that of pay-TV services and theatre consumption, the benefits of The Super Mario Bros Movie to the games industry were Stated clearly.

‘With a film adaptation of one of the most popular video game franchises, Super Mario Bros, due in April, there is a lot of enthusiasm and excitement around the film,’ he said, adding that ‘it is not surprising that the increase in film and TV drama adaptations will see a dramatic increase in sales of games. It is not surprising,” said Maria Rua Aguete, Senior Director of Omdia’s Media & Entertainment Practice.

In addition, The Toy Association (American Toy Association), in its latest trend information published in March 2023, stated that 2023 will be the year when “studios will leverage their regular brands in toys and children’s entertainment to try new things on the ‘big screen’ (the movie screen)”. “, citing Super Mario Bros. as one example, and raising hopes that these film adaptations could “influence the toy market”.

Overseas audiences gave it superlative reviews! How far will the record go when it opens in Japan?

The Super Mario Brothers Movie suffered a bit from the critics, but at Rotten Tomatoes, an overseas review website known for its harsh reviews, the film was very well received by the general audience, with a 96% audience rating at the time of writing.

And the release date in Nintendo’s home country of Japan is Friday 28 April. As Japan has not been included in the global box office so far, the world is watching to see how far the record will go after the film’s release in Japan, which holds a major key to the global box office.

There are only two weeks left until the film opens in Japan during Golden Week. After watching the overseas reactions online, the expectations of Japanese fans are at an all-time high, and it remains to be seen how close the film will come to the unprecedented record of 40 billion yen, the highest grossing film of all time in Japan, set in 2020 with the release of Oni no Shurakeshi Blade The Movie: Infinity Train Arc.

The Super Mario Brothers Movie was released in Japan on Friday 28 April.