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Is the Family-Friendly Box Office Revival for Real?

From ‘Super Mario Galaxy’ to ‘Project Hail Mary,’ this spring break season is showing that when studios give families a reason to visit the multiplex, they actually show up.

the super mario galaxy movie
The sequel success of Super Mario Galaxy proves that refashioning an old brand still works (recall that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 closed out 2024 at $492 million globally). Photo: Courtesy of Universal Studios
Scott Mendelson
April 7, 2026

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The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opened to $191 million domestic over the holiday weekend—$15 million ahead of tracking and only slightly below the 2023 original’s $205 million five-day Easter launch. Not to belittle the creative process, but the formula for Universal and Illumination/Nintendo was pretty simple: Stuff the sequel with more of what worked the first time. What’s more interesting, however, is the company that Mario is keeping: Pixar’s Hoppers ($330 million globally), Sony Animation’s GOAT ($185 million), and the family-friendly PG-13 epic Project Hail Mary ($421 million) are all holding steady in multiplexes simultaneously.