The Super Mario Bros. Movie

is a 2023 American-Japanese animated film directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, co-directed by Pierre Leduc and Fabien Polack from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel, and is based on the Super Mario game series. The film was produced by Illumination Entertainment and Nintendo, and released on April 5, 2023.
A sequel will release on April 3, 2026.
==Synopsis==
While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers Mario and brother Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi. With the assistance of a Mushroom Kingdom resident Toad and some training from the strong-willed ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Peach, Mario taps into his own power.
===Prologue===
The evil Koopa king Bowser, accompanied by his assistant Kamek and the rest of his army, invades the Snow Kingdom in their floating volcano castle. The penguin inhabitants fight to defend their home by throwing snowballs, but their attacks are ineffective against Bowser, leading to them being easily defeated and captured. Bowser then burns their palace down with his fire breath and steals their most prized possession, the powerful Super Star.
===Act 1===
In New York City, the Italian-American brothers Mario and Luigi have started Super Mario Bros. Plumbing, a small plumbing business servicing Brooklyn and Queens. At Punch-Out!! Pizzeria, the brothers proudly watch the commercial for the business that they spent their life savings to produce, but then encounter their antagonistic former boss Spike, who derides them for leaving him to start their own business. Undeterred, Mario and Luigi go to do their first plumbing job at a Brooklyn couple's house, but due to the interference of the couple's dog Francis, this ends in the destruction of their bathroom. The brothers return home for dinner with their family, most of whom mock their plumbing business and commercial, with only their mother being supportive of them. Mario becomes disheartened after being criticized by his father, but after he and Luigi see a newscast reporting about a significant leak in manholes throughout the Brooklyn streets due to a water main bursting, Mario promptly sees this as an opportunity for them to prove themselves and they go down the sewers in an attempt to fix the broken water main, only to fail again.
While exploring the sewers, they arrive at a large room filled with pipes and investigate a large green one, which sucks them into the Warp Zone. There, the two brothers are separated, with each one going into a different pipe. Mario ends up in a forest filled with large mushrooms, where he meets with the adventurous Toad, who informs him that he has arrived in the Mushroom Kingdom and that his brother has landed in the Dark Lands, which are under the control of the evil Bowser. Toad then decides to bring Mario to the kingdom's ruler, Princess Peach, who he believes can help Mario save Luigi. Meanwhile, Luigi briefly searches for Mario in the Dark Lands, where he is chased by a swarm of Dry Bones and tries to escape by hiding in an abandoned castle, only to end up being captured by a group of Shy Guys led by a Snifit.
Toad and Mario traverse the kingdom's town and reach Peach's Castle. When the Toad guards outside the door refuse to let them in, Toad distracts them to let Mario sneak in, but he is then chased by the other guards. In the throne room, Princess Peach holds a council with many Toads, where the Toad General describes Bowser's recent actions and that he is headed towards the Mushroom Kingdom, claiming that his possession of the Super Star makes their destruction inevitable. The princess, however, refuses to give up and reveals her plan to defeat Bowser by traveling to the Jungle Kingdom to form an alliance with the Kongs, despite the fact that their king usually declines alliances. The princess and Mario meet shortly afterward, with the former being surprised to encounter another human. After hearing Mario's plight and seeing how determined he is to save his brother, Peach tests his skill with a training course full of obstacles and agrees to take him with her if he can finish it. After demonstrating her own skills, she then explains that he can clear the course using power-ups such as Super Mushrooms, which make Mario bigger and stronger. Mario fails to complete the course on many attempts, but eventually comes close enough that Peach takes him along anyway.
Meanwhile, Bowser holds a party for his troops in his throne room in celebration of their recent conquest and seizing of the Super Star. During this, Bowser reveals to his army that he is deeply infatuated with Princess Peach, and that his motive for acquiring the Star was to impress her and ask for her hand in marriage, stating that if she refuses, he will use the Super Star to demolish her kingdom, to the elation of his army. During this time, Luigi is taken into a balloon by the Shy Guys that captured him, where he recalls a moment in his and Mario's infancy when Mario stood up to protect his brother from a bully who was abusing him. 
===Act 2===
In the morning, Mario and Peach begin their journey to the Jungle Kingdom, with Toad joining as well due to his desire to protect the princess. Together, they travel through several locales, such as the Waterfall Area, the Desert Area, Yoshi's Island, and the High Cliffs, on their way to the Jungle Kingdom. At one point in their trek, the trio sets up camp in the Fire Flower Fields, where Peach shares her backstory: she first arrived at the Mushroom Kingdom by walking through a Warp Pipe as a baby, then was taken in by the Toads and eventually crowned as their princess once she was ready. However, she has no memory of anything before her arrival in the Mushroom Kingdom, including where she was originally from. This leads Mario to speculate that Peach may be from the same world as him, to which Peach remarks that the universe is large and contains many galaxies.
During the heroes' quest, Bowser while playing on his piano and singing a song expressing his obsessive love for Peach is informed by Kamek about Mario and his association with Peach, making him see the plumber as a potential rival for the princess's affections. When Luigi is brought before Bowser, the Koopa King interrogates him about Mario. Luigi resists at first, but eventually confesses after Bowser loses his patience. Luigi is then placed in a cage above a pit of lava, where others, such as the penguins and Lumalee, have also been caged.
Upon arriving at the Jungle Kingdom, the heroes are transported to the palace by a Kong driving a kart. At the palace, Peach consults the Kongs' king, Cranky Kong, and asks for his army to support them in fighting Bowser. He initially refuses to join Peach's cause, but when Mario stands up to him, he agrees to help on the condition that Mario defeats his son Donkey Kong in the Great Ring of Kong, which Mario accepts. During the fight, Mario initially struggles against DK's immense strength, so he attempts to use power-ups from the several boxes set around the arena to gain an advantage. However, he accidentally eats a Blue Mushroom thinking it was a Super Mushroom and gets shrunken down and flicked away by DK. He then tries to use a Fire Flower, but it gets blown away by DK. Mario continues to get pummeled, but refuses to give up. Peach then encourages him to hit another block, which contains a Super Bell that turns him into Cat Mario. With his new speed, agility, and claws, Mario is able to dodge all of DK's attacks and scratch him until he is finally defeated, at which Cranky Kong reluctantly agrees to help Peach's cause.
At Donkey Kong's home, Peach congratulates Mario for his tenacity, while DK is frustrated with Mario and claims to have let him win. Cranky suggests that they use karts to quickly return to the Mushroom Kingdom via a shortcut so that they can ambush Bowser and his forces during their attack. In a large garage, Mario, Peach, and Toad each create their own karts, and they drive alongside the Kongs back to the Mushroom Kingdom through a secret passage that leads to Rainbow Road. On the way back, Peach begins questioning Mario about his world and decides to visit Brooklyn sometime.
Meanwhile, Bowser is practicing his marriage proposal to Peach, with Kamek taking her place. However, they are interrupted by the Koopa General, who has discovered the heroes' plan and reports it to Bowser. At this, Bowser decides to have his army use karts of their own to ambush the heroes as they traverse Rainbow Road, with the Koopa General himself chasing Mario with a bulldozer. During the chase, Mario's kart is destroyed, but he manages to hijack another while Peach saves Toad from falling off the road. After losing his second kart, Mario hitches a ride with Donkey Kong, who fires one of his kart's Rocket Barrels to explode on the bulldozer. Infuriated, the Koopa General locks himself in his winged, spiky Blue Shell and crashes into Mario and Donkey Kong, destroying the latter's kart and a part of the road. The two plummet to the ocean below, much to Peach, Toad, and Cranky's despair, and all of the Kongs besides DK are captured and sent to Bowser's fortress dungeons. After landing in the ocean, Mario saves DK from drowning, but both are then devoured whole by a large Maw-Ray. 
===Act 3===
Peach and Toad manage to make it back to the Mushroom Kingdom, where Peach warns the citizens of Bowser's imminent arrival. She orders the Toads in the town and the castle to evacuate while she holds off Bowser, but Toad decides to stay at the princess's side instead of leaving with the rest of his kind, wanting to stay true to his desire to protect her. Bowser then arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom aboard his castle and finally proposes to marry Peach. She initially rejects him, but after he has Kamek torture Toad, she reluctantly agrees to the marriage on the condition that Bowser does not harm her subjects. Kamek then informs all of Bowser's prisoners that they are "invited" to Bowser and Peach's royal wedding to be ritualistically sacrificed, much to their horror (and Lumalee's delight). Meanwhile, Mario and DK, trapped inside the Maw-Ray's stomach, despair over their situation. After attempting to bond over their issues with their respective fathers, they enter an argument as DK begins smashing around the stomach, causing the Maw-Ray to burp and allowing them to find DK's ruined kart. They then use its last Rocket Barrel to escape the Maw-Ray's stomach and fly back to the Mushroom Kingdom, hurrying to Peach and Bowser's wedding.
At the wedding, Bowser reveals that he intends to execute all of his prisoners by burning them in lava in Peach's honor. However, Peach punches out Kamek and reveals an Ice Flower that Toad smuggled into her bouquet, with which she freezes Bowser and the winch lowering the prisoners before holding down his army. During this, Mario and Donkey Kong arrive, but they are then shot down by a Bullet Bill, forcing them to fight through Bowser's hordes in town. Mario uses a Super Mushroom while DK uses a Fire Flower, but both lose their abilities in the fight. Mario then finds a Super Leaf, allowing him to fly up to Bowser's flying fortress. During the fight, Peach uses a spear to light King Bob-omb's fuse, but is then blown back by the explosion, causing her to lose the power before she can re-freeze the winch. Before the prisoners are burned, DK arrives and manages to stop the winch with his own hands, making Cranky proud. Luigi nearly falls into the lava while trying to escape, but Mario saves him, and the two rejoice at being reunited.
Enraged, Bowser frees himself from the ice and orders for the Bomber Bill to launch and destroy the Mushroom Kingdom. Before the Bomber Bill can hit Peach's Castle, Mario manages to stop it by hitting one of its eyes with his suit's tail. Angered by this, the Bomber Bill chases Mario instead, and the plumber leads it into the forest and into the pipe that he first entered the Mushroom Kingdom through. However, the resulting explosion in the Warp Zone causes everyone and everything in the surrounding area to be sucked into the pipe and transported to Brooklyn, with Bowser's flying fortress bursting out and landing in the middle of the street, much to the shock of Spike and other citizens.
The Super Star lands in front of Mario, but a furious Bowser stops him from getting it and pummels him while blaming him for his wedding being ruined. A discouraged Mario ends up hiding in Punch-Out!! Pizzeria as Bowser taunts him, and despite their best efforts, Bowser defeats and captures both Peach and Donkey Kong along with his army. However, after seeing a damaged television play the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing commercial, Mario regains his resolve and stands up to Bowser, stopping him from killing DK. Peach then manages to kick the Super Star away from Bowser, allowing Mario to go after it. Bowser tries to incinerate him with his fire breath, but Luigi defends him with a manhole cover, allowing them both to obtain the Star and become invincible just in time. Using the Star's powers, the Mario brothers work together to defeat Bowser and his army. Upon his defeat, Bowser is force-fed a Blue Mushroom by Peach and shrunk to miniature size, allowing Toad to imprison him in a jar. In the end, the Mario brothers and their new friends in the Mushroom Kingdom are celebrated and hailed as heroes by Brooklyn's inhabitants, including Spike and the brothers' parents. Afterwards, the brothers start off their new day of plumbing work, having set up home in the Mushroom Kingdom.
===End-Credits Scenes===
In a mid-credits scene, Bowser is shown singing another verse of his love song while imprisoned in a cage in Peach's Castle, but a Toad guard interrupts and silences him, closing the door on him mid-sentence as he rants. In a post-credits scene, a Yoshi's Egg that was originally given as a wedding gift for Bowser and Peach is seen in the Brooklyn sewers. The egg suddenly begins to hatch as the film cuts to black, followed by the creature inside the egg shouting "Yoshi!" Those two scenes foreshadow The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2.
==Development==
In December 2014, information leaked that Sony Pictures had made a deal with Nintendo to create an animated film based on the Mario franchise, but it never materialized.
In November 2017, it was reported that Nintendo would be teaming up with Universal Pictures and Illumination to make an animated Mario film. However, in January 2018, former Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima stated that a deal has not been finalized, but that an announcement will come soon. Kimishima hopes that if the deal is successful, a 2020 release date would be possible. By the end of January 2018, Nintendo announced that the movie will be made with Shigeru Miyamoto and Chris Meledandri the co-producer According to Miyamoto, he knew that the process of making a film was far different from that of making a video game, and wanted a film expert to lead the effort. In Nintendo's work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create Mario-based attractions, Miyamoto had met Meledandri, and they had several discussions. Miyamoto found Chris Meledandri's creative process similar to his own, and felt he would be the proper lead for a Mario film. They had started more earnest discussions of the film as early as 2016, knowing that if they felt it wasn't working that they could easily walk away. However, by the time of the official announcement, Miyamoto said that they have good discussions over the screenplay and feels good progress to a proper film. Meledandri stated that the film was a "priority" for Illumination and that it will most likely come out in 2022. He added that Miyamoto will be "front and center" with creating the movie. The movie's release date was December 21, 2022, was postponed to April 7th, 2023, and is now on April 5, 2023.
In January 2020, Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the film is "moving along smoothly" with the film aiming for release in 2022. Furukawa stated that Nintendo would own the rights to the film, and both Nintendo and Universal would fund the production of the film.
On June 23, 2022, Chris Pratt was announced to be the voice of Mario. Pratt told Variety that he "worked really closely with the directors" and landed on something that he is "really proud of and can't wait for people to see and hear." On October 28, Khary Payton, who voices the Penguin King, described Chris Pratt’s voice for Mario at the time as a “New York, Italian guy” and similar to the “Sopranos”.Velasquez, Raul (December 31, 2022) The Super Mario Movie Voice Actor Defended Chris Pratt's 'New York Accent'. GameRant However, the accent was axed during production for sounding too similar to the character Tony Soprano.Standford, Alesia (April 8, 2023) Chris Pratt says his first accent was rejected by The Super Mario Bros. Movie filmmakers because it sounded like 'Tony Soprano'. Daily Mail
Charlie Day originally voiced Luigi with a New York accent during production, however, the accent was subsequently axed when directors told him was too much like a “Goodfellas” gangster. In response to the change, Day said, “Alright! I think you’re wrong, but fine!”
On October 7, 2022, the first trailer came out, on November 29, 2022, they released the second trailer, on December 8, 2022, the first clip was released at The Game Awards 2022, and on March 10, 2023, the third and final trailer released.
On May 22, 2023, the movie was released on Apple TV+.
==Future==
===Sequel===
In May 2021, Furukawa said that Nintendo was interested in producing more animated films based on its intellectual properties if the Mario Bros. film is successful. In a cover story before the film's release, producer Meledandri was asked about potential sequels, or projects adapted from other Nintendo properties, and answered, "Our focus right now is entirely on bringing the film out to the audience, and at this time, we're not prepared to talk about what's coming in the future". Black has also stated his interest in a potential sequel featuring (who had previously played Mario in a sketch) voicing the character Wario, who could serve as the film's main villain.
On March 10, 2024, in a celebratory Mario Day video, the sequel was officially announced to be in development at Illumination Entertainment with an intended release date of April 3, 2026. Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic returned to direct the film.
===Possible spin-offs===
In February 2022, Day expressed interest in reprising his role as Luigi in a Luigi's Mansion film and reiterated his interest in March 2023. In April 2023, Rogen expressed interest in Donkey Kong Country forming the basis of future works, stating it created "a lot of opportunity" for a spin-off film.
==Voice cast==
*Chris Pratt as Mario: The titular main protagonist of the movie and a plumber from Brooklyn who is unwillingly transported to the Mushroom Kingdom after being pulled into the Warp Zone via a mysterious pipe in the sewers. Once there, he goes on a quest to save Luigi, his brother whom he was separated from in the Warp Zone.
*Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach: The deuteragonist of the movie and the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, sworn protector of the Toads and a master of the Power-Ups. She accompanies Mario on his quest to save Luigi, she's also the love interest of Mario.
*Charlie Day as Luigi: The titular overarching protagonist of the movie and Mario's younger, but taller, twin brother who works as a plumber as well. He also falls into the Warp Zone, but is separated from Mario, sent to the Dark Lands, and imprisoned by Bowser.
*Jack Black as Bowser: The main antagonist of the movie and the hegemonic, power-hungry King of the Koopas. He steals the Super Star and attempts to use it to woo, marry Princess Peach and take over the world, he also plans to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom if she rejects him.
*Keegan-Michael Key as Toad: One of the two tritagonists of the movie and a citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom. He accompanies Mario and Peach on their quest to save Luigi.
*Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong: One of the two tritagonists of the movie and the heir to the Jungle Kingdom's throne and Cranky Kong's son. Mario seeks his assistance in protecting the Mushroom Kingdom.
*Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong: The king of The Jungle Kingdom and Donkey Kong's father.
*Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek: A Koopa with supernatural abilities who acts as Bowser's adviser and informant.
*Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike: Mario and Luigi’s former boss who takes joy in bullying the brothers and mocking their new plumbing company.
*Juliet Jelenichttps://dam.gettyimages.com/universal/supermariobrosmovie#!asset/gb7747shks63rsgpvcmjjjjj as Lumalee
*Eric Bauzahttps://twitter.com/bauzilla/status/1578117866708082689 as Koopa Troopa, Diddy Kong,https://twitter.com/bauzilla/status/1644177056555749377 and Toad General
*Khary Payton as the Penguin King
*Jessica DiCicco as Mario & Luigi's mother, a yellow Toad,https://twitter.com/ChahadiJad/status/1607384638661459968?lang=en Mayor Pauline, Baby Peachhttps://twitter.com/jessicadicicco/status/1649173959513079809?s=46&t=nwtLGlJaH7Fg2jWUjogMQg, the baby who bullies Baby Luigi, and the Woman from the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing commercial
*Scott Menville as the Koopa General
*Charles Martinet as Mario & Luigi's father and Giuseppe
Additional voices
* Billy West
* Chris Hardwick
===Other characters===
*Baby Luigi (flashback)
*Baby Mario (flashback)
*Baby Peach (flashback)
*Biddybuds
*Bob-ombs 
*Bramball
*Bomber Bill
*Bullet Bill 
*Cheep Cheep
*Chain Chomp
*Hammer Bros
*King Bob-omb
*King Boo
*Maw-Ray
*Mega Cheep Cheep 
*Toads 
*Penguins 
*Piranha Plants 
*Sledge Bros
*Shy Guy 
*Snifits
*Yoshis (Only seen in one shot)
*Nicolas Cantu as Funky Kong
*Brooklynn Prince as Dixie Kong 
*Tony Hawk as Chunky Kong (Cameo)
*Mariel Sheets as Toadette (Easter Egg)
==Locations==
*Brooklyn
**Brooklyn Heightshttps://media.discordapp.net/attachments/356208486587039745/1091461391417884762/20230331_120345.png
**Super Mario Bros. Plumbing 
**Punch-Out!! Pizzeriahttps://www.smbplumbing.com/testimonials/
**Water Main/Sewer
***Warp Zone
*Mushroom Kingdom
**Mushroom Forest
**Mushroom Heights
**Antiques 
**Crazy Cap 
**Peach’s Castle
**High Cliffs
**Waterfall Area
**Fire Flower Fields
**Mario Bros. House
*Dark Lands
**Bowser's Castle
*Snow Kingdom
*Jungle Kingdom
**Great Ring of Kong
**Kart workshop
*Rainbow Road 
*Desert Areahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHR-C_WIPXU
*Yoshi’s Island 
*World Map
==Items and objects==
*Banana 
*Bike 
*Brick Block 
*Checkpoint Flag 
*Clear Pipe 
*Coin
*Fire Bar 
*Hammer 
*Kart 
*Lift 
*Donut Lift 
*Warp Pipe 
===Power-ups===
*Fire Flower (Fire Peach, Fire Donkey Kong): The Fire Flower grants the ability to shoot fireballs when touched.
*Super Leafhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2K_q3gf2P0(Tanooki Mario): The Super Leaf grants access to continuous flight and a tail whip when touched.
*Super Bell (Cat Mario): The Super Bell grants the ability to dash, pounce and scratch like a cat when touched.
*Ice Flower (Ice Peach): The Ice Flower grants the ability to freeze things by shooting ice balls when touched.
*Super Mushroom (Super Mario): When consumed, the Super Mushroom makes whoever consumes it grow larger.
*Mini Mushroom (Mini Mario, Mini Bowser): When consumed, the Mini Mushroom transforms whoever consumes it into a miniscule form of themselves.
*Super Star (Invincible Mario, Invincible Luigi): When touched, the Super Star grants increased speed, improved fighting skills, and the ability to blast away oncoming hazards.
==In Super Mario Run==
An event based on the movie, has ran since March 10, 2023. If the player has not purchased the full version of the game, the player can buy it half the price. Even if the player does not have the full version of the game, they have access to player certain levels that cannot be played without the full version.
==Real-world influences==
===In pop culture===
==== Movie trailer impressions ====
Chris Pratt's voice has received negative reception from the internet and Mario fans due to how his voice is distinguishably different from the Mario in video games voiced by Martinet. A comment states Pratt as the "prime example" of why voice actors must be hired for the role. A comment has criticised Mario's lack of Italian accent. A comment from Tara Strong, a Canadian-American actress had posted a tweet on the same day as the trailer release stating "It should be Charles." which can be implied that she stated that Martinet should have played the role of Mario. Many Super Mario fans gave a lot of praise to Black's portrayal of Bowser as opposed to Pratt's role.
Despite the initially negative reception on Chris Pratt's voice, the movie trailers has received more likes than dislikes. As of October 10, 2022, the debut trailer received 23 million views and roughly 800,000 viewers cast a like or a dislike with a 95.4% positive rating.
Collider has stated that "stunning visuals elevate lackluster voice acting", describing it as a "visual tour de force". The penguins' appearances in the trailer has surprised viewers as some pointed out the reference to their appearance in Super Mario 64.
After the second trailer of the movie dropped on November 30, 2022, a controversy occurred as a Twitter user mistook the presence of Rainbow Road as "woke pride flag nonsense". This tweet was called out by people who knew Rainbow Road was always a track since 1992's Super Mario Kart. Viewers expressed positive views of Peach being portrayed as a strong character such as praising her for being a princess who defends her people instead of being a helpless woman, and complimenting Peach's plot relevance which gave them Super Princess Peach vibes, a game where Peach and Mario's roles were reversed. However, Peach has also received negative opinions being considered that she is too "woke" while people defended the fact Peach had her hero roles in Super Princess Peach and other Mario games where Peach was always depicted as a strong and brave heroine.
Chris Pratt responded to The Super Mario Bros. Movie criticism. He says that there is a passionate fanbase and he is one of the fans, people do not want something like the movie to be screwed up and he is grateful with the response. While Miyamoto had a level of expectations for the movie. When it came out, he was surprised it went beyond what he imagined. He believes while foreign critics gave the movie low ratings, it contributed to the movie's notority and buzz.
==== Reaction to critics' reviews ====
After the movie critics' reviews came out, netizens expressed disgust and confusion towards the negative reviews where they believe they have judged the movie harshly believing the critics are "disconnected from reality". Despite this, Miyamoto mentioned in an interview that he believes the negative reception from foreign critics the film has helped the film's "notoriety and buzz".
===Malware in movie pirating===
It was highly recommended to not pirate The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Cybersecurity researchers from Reason Labs claimed that they found "multiple trojans pretending to be an HD version of the recent hit movie." According to research, it "hijack the victim's browser, its search engine page, and steal sensitive data from the infected endpoints." More than 150 thousand of customers reported that trojans targeted them.
===Reception===
====Box office====
The film has a budget of $100 million. In the United States and Canada, The Super Mario Bros. Movie was released alongside Air, and was projected to gross around $125 million from 4,000 theaters during its five-day opening weekend. It is also expected to gross around $100 million internationally. The movie has currently made $204 million domestically and $173 million worldwide for a grand total of $377 million. This does not account for Japan as the movie has not released there yet.
In terms of box office, the movie has broke some records, such as the biggest opening day for an animated movie in eleven markets, the 2nd biggest opening day for a movie in Central America, behind Avengers: Endgame, the biggest box office opening for a video game movie worldwide, and biggest opening for an animated movie worldwide. As of April 9, 2023, the movie beat Frozen 2 for being the highest grossing animated movie of all time.
As of April 14, 2023, the box office surpassed $500 million globally making the movie the biggest video game adaptation topping grosses of Warcraft and Pokémon Detective Pikachu.
In April 22, 2023, the film was announced to earn the highest third weekend total ever recorded by an animated film with $58 million in a weekend.
As of April 24, 2023, it hit $878 million globally and is expected to hit $1 billion.
As of April 29, 2023, the film crossed over $1 billion in the box office.
Over the weekend of May 19, 2023 to May 20, 2023, the movie in Japan has recorded more than 742,808,730 yen. Accumulating the box office at a high pace, it exceeded 9 billion yen in 24 days surpassing Despicable Me (7.312 billion yen in 24 days) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (8.08 billion yen in 24 days).
As of May 28, 2023, the film hit $1.276 billion worldwide taking over Incredibles 2, considered the third "highest-grossing animated movie of all time". This also marks Illumination's highest grossing release ever.
On May 31, 2023, the film surpassed Frozen with the box office becoming the second-highest earning animated film.
====Critical response====
The Super Mario Bros. Movie has received mixed reviews from film critics. It has been praised for its visuals, score, and faithfulness to the video games, while the screenplay and plot have received criticism. Some critics have found the plot to be lacking in substance and sidelined in favor of the amount of fan service. Jack Black's performance has additionally been a subject of praise. Audience reviews were strikingly more positive, acclaiming the film for the same reasons as the critics, but some have criticized the pacing and the film's length. 
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 59% of 141 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "While it's nowhere near as thrilling as turtle tipping your way to 128 lives, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a colorful -- albeit thinly plotted -- animated adventure that has about as many Nintendos as Nintendont's." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 47 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Ross Bonaime from Collider gave a positive review, writing "Obviously, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in many ways a feature-length advertisement for Nintendo as a brand. However, Jelenic, Horvath, and [F]ogel make this feel more like a labor of love, as they’ve been given the keys to the (Mushroom) kingdom, and are allowed to go all-in with what any fan would want to see in a film like this. In many ways, The Super Mario Bros. Movie reminds of Wreck-It Ralph and the glee that came from seeing these characters on screen."
Writing for the Datebook section of The San Francisco Chronicle, Zaki Hasan said he enjoyed the visuals but felt that the film's strong adherence to and copious references to the games left it lacking in narrative, and that it tried too hard to avoid the failures of the 1993 film, calling it "a blandly efficient piece of brand management".
IGN's Tom Jorgensen gave a mostly positive review. He praised the film's energy, its musical score despite the inclusion of "shoehorned" pop songs, and its visuals for setting a "very high bar". He commended the use of callbacks but criticized some character arcs for being underdeveloped. Jorgensen had slight criticism towards Pratt and Day's attempt at New York accents for Mario and Luigi as "certainly not going to be taking home any commendations from the good people of Brooklyn" and stated "There’s definitely been a flattening of the more cartoonish qualities". However, he applauded the actors for embodying each character's heroism and for a grounded delivery that "balances well with the fantastical trappings of the Mushroom Kingdom". Jorgensen commended Black’s performance as Bowser for being "standout" and fitting to the character.
Kyle Anderson of Nerdist celebrated the animation for its game accuracy and called Illumination "...the perfect choice to make Mario movies" but opined that "those expecting something akin to The LEGO Movie might be left a bit cold" due to the lack of a plot outside the main beats given the film's short run time.
Soren Andersen of The Seattle Times commented that, while the film succeeded in appealing to the Mario fanbase by creating the feeling of being inside a video game, he found the characters to lack personality and criticized their voice performances, remarking: "...everyone expresses themselves at the tops of their voices, sound and fury signifying not a whole lot".
Brian Tallerico of Roger Ebert, a self-described lifelong fan, wrote that the vocal performances were "uniformly mediocre," and that the film does not "reflect the franchise's creativity in the slightest."
The Los Angeles Times's Katie Walsh applauded the film for its humor and "eye-popping" animation. While she praised Black's performance as Bowser, she criticized both Pratt and Day's lead performances of Mario and Luigi as being "so unremarkable that it could have been anyone at all".
Calum Marsh wrote for the New York Times criticizing Pratt's performance as "grating" and "unctuous" while describing the overall film as "bland, witless and flagrantly pandering".
Kristy Puchko from Mashable commended the fan service and music but was critical of the characters and noted Pratt's lack of accent, commenting "whatever voice Pratt is doing isn't Brooklyn, and it isn't anything particularly specific, consistent, or exciting".
Screenrant's Molly Freeman praised the film for being a "love letter" to fans but criticized it for offering little else. She described most of the voice cast as "fun" with Black's Bowser being a standout, while noting that Pratt's performance was "not so bad as to be distracting, but not strong enough to be at all interesting either", to which she said was an analogy for the film as a whole.
Josh Spiegel from SlashFilm considered the film's portrayal of Princess Peach not in need of rescuing "unquestionably a good thing". He criticized the film for an "exceedingly straightforward narrative", characters lacking complexity, and Pratt's performance as Mario as being "blandly heroic".
David Kaplan from Kaplan vs. Kaplan described the movie animation to be excellent depicting the characters' expressions including the canine's expressions which he found its mean grimace hilarious. However, he said the storyline is another "the world is peril and must be saved from a villain". He stated Fogel created a delightful new character in Princess Peach. He also mentioned Fogel borrowed heavily from Alice in Wonderland with edibles that "make one big or small", but aware young ones would not care. According to Kaplan, he stated the film is primarily for older children and tidbits may appeal to adults.
Jeanne Kaplan said the movie should have turned out better since the animation is colourful and flashy. While the movie is rated PG, she believes a few scenes can be frightening for children including the scenes where it took place in Dark Lands. She finds the animation incredible, but it does not make it an enjoyable film. She stated Pratt being chosen to cast as Mario over Charles Martinet is a mistake, describing his portrayal to be flat almost as he sounds like phoned in his performance. Overall for her, she describes the film as one of the films that lands in the middle—not great, but not awful either.
John Leguizamo, who portrayed Luigi in the 1993 live-action film, criticized The Super Mario Bros. Movie for a lack of Latin representation in its cast (despite Anya Taylor-Joy and Fred Armisen having Latin heritage), and stated that he did not intend to watch the animated film.
==Hearing==
==Trivia==
*This movie marks the first time Donkey Kong is shown to use a main power-up from the series (as he was shown using a Fire Flower in the final trailer).
**This is also the first time Peach uses the Ice Flower.
*This is the fifth time Bowser has attempted to marry Peach, the first time being Super Mario Bros.: Peach-hime Kyūshutsu Dai Sakusen!, the second time being Super Mario Adventures, the third time being Super Paper Mario, and the fourth time being Super Mario Odyssey.
*In the Japanese release of the film, the NES Mario plays is not changed to the Japanese counterpart, the Famicom.
===References to games and other media===
*Donkey Kong series:
**Donkey Kong: When Mario and Luigi are in Punch-Out!! Pizzeria, Giuseppe can be seen playing an arcade game called "Jump Man" that resembles the original Donkey Kong arcade game, albeit with the main antagonist being a yeti. In the Great Ring of Kong, the platforms Mario and Donkey Kong stand on are the red girders from the level 25m. Barrels and blue ladders can also be seen in the same scene. The sound that plays when Donkey Kong obtains a Fire Flower is the same one that plays when a barrel is broken with a hammer in the NES version of the game. Audio from this game is played on the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing website.
**Donkey Kong Country series: Numerous members of the Kong Family from the series can be seen in the movie such as Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Chunky Kong, Cranky Kong, and Funky Kong. During one point in the film where Mario attempts to use a Fire Flower against Donkey Kong, he quickly blows it out referencing the same move that is seen in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.
**Donkey Kong 64: When Donkey Kong is introduced, a shortened version of the DK Rap with just the lyric: "DK! Donkey Kong!" playing on loop.
*Nintendo Entertainment System: The Toad at the antique store asks about an NES cartridge, to which the clerk tells them to blow into it.
*Nintendo Wii Mii: The phone call icon is Mii when Luigi got the phone call.
*Wrecking Crew: Foreman Spike appears in the film.
*Super Mario Bros.:
**The Warp Pipe sound from this game can be heard several times throughout the movie.
**The bridge over a sea of jumping Cheep Cheeps that Mario, Princess Peach and Toad walk across is very similar to World 2-3 from this game.
** A screenshot of the exterior of a fortress can be seen inside the antique store and a nearby barrel contains axes. The store's "open" sign is styled after this game's in-game logo.
**The Ground Theme, Underground Theme, and Underwater Theme are arranged in this film's score. When Mario and Luigi are on their way to their first customer, a construction site they run through is identical to the first screens of World 1-1.
**When the Toad Guards were suspicious of Mario, they joked about the "princess in another castle", a reference to Mario rescuing a Toad in each world.
**All the original power ups are shown.
*Duck Hunt: The Duck from Duck Hunt appears in a photo at Punch-Out!! Pizzeria.
*Kid Icarus: After dinner at the Mario household, Mario can be seen playing the game on his NES. He gets a Game Over and switches to the news.
*The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!: The song in the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing Commercial is a remix of the Mario Rap from the show.
*Super Mario Bros. (1993 film): Like the live-action movie, the brothers are struggling with their plumbing business and have a rivalry with another more successful one.
*Mario Kart series:
**General: Mario's kart half resembles the Pipe Frame. The Koopa General's design is reminiscent of the Blue Spiny Shell's design. He even explodes on Mario and Donkey Kong, referencing what it usually does.
**Even the Illumination logo starts like all Mario Kart races. A minion fails to start its kart, which makes its kart backwards off screen, which happens when the user presses accelerate for too long.
**Mario Kart DS: Rainbow Road as depicted in the film resembles Rainbow Road as depicted in that game.
**Mario Kart Wii:
***Mario's kart half resembles the Standard Kart from Mario Kart Wii.
***Toad drives a vehicle based on the Tiny Titan kart.
***Peach rides a bike similar to the Mach Bike and wears her biker outfit from that game.
***One of the Koopa Troopas has a Bike similar to the Bullet Bike.
***Funky Kong's presence in Rainbow Road references him being the most used character for world records.
**Mario Kart 7: Mario, Peach and Toad arrive at the Jungle Kingdom via a kart with a glider.
**Mario Kart 8: The countdown sound from this game is used for the Illumination logo. The menu music from this game is heard in the song "Karts!" A design on the vehicle-building machine references the Wii U GamePad's functionality as a horn. The sound of Toad's horn is directly from this game. Anti-gravity is used in the Rainbow Road scene.
*Star Fox (series): The Arwing can be spotted in Mario and Luigi's room. There’s a road called Wolf Street, as a reference to Wolf O’Donnell.
*Super Mario Adventures: Bowser's main motive is to marry Princess Peach. Mario says "Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!" in the teaser trailer, referencing the final line in the comic.
*Super Mario 64: The penguins appearing in the movie are based on the ones from that game. King Bob-omb appears at the wedding.
*Nintendo GameCube: Mario and Luigi's ringtone is the GameCube start-up theme.
*Luigi's Mansion: During the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing Commercial, the brothers make a face similar to the face Luigi makes on the box art of that game. Luigi mentions mansions during the voice message if someone were to call the Plumbing website's phone number in real life. King Boo appears at the wedding. Luigi's Mansion concept art was released hinting a new film in the works, a cut scene, or both. Charles Day even wants to make one.
*New Super Mario Bros.: At the beginning of the Donkey Kong fight, Mario obtains a Mini Mushroom.
*Super Mario Galaxy: Lumalee makes an appearance. During the end-credits medley, Level Complete, a remix of the Gusty Garden Galaxy theme is heard.
*Super Mario Galaxy 2: Bowser is shrunken to a small size when Peach feeds him with Mini Mushroom after his defeat, just like in the end credits of Super Mario Galaxy 2.
*Super Mario 3D World: In the middle of the fight against Donkey Kong, Mario grabs a Super Bell and goes into his Cat form. Toad traps small Bowser inside the jar after his defeat, just like his fate in the end credits of Super Mario 3D World.
*Super Mario Odyssey: Bowser's main motive is to marry Princess Peach. When he practices his proposal he puts on the same hat he wore in the game. He is also wearing the same wedding outfit as he was in the game in a few scenes of the film. The Sand Kingdom (under the name "Desert Area") is visited. The Piranha Plant bouquet makes an appearance.
*Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury: Attack! Fury Bowser is performed by some Koopa Troopas in Bowser's Castle after the successful defeat of the Penguins and the capturing of the Super Star.
==Differences between the movie and the games==
This movie has several differences with what was established in the video games, and those differences will be described below.
*The film uses a different origin story for Mario and Luigi from the one depicted in the Yoshi's Island series onwards, being Brooklyn natives like in early media predating the series, including the original Mario Bros. arcade game, the DIC cartoons and the 1993 film.
*Peach is shown to have come to the Mushroom Kingdom as a baby, when the Toads found and raised her and later crowned her their princess, instead of being born into her position as implied by Super Mario Bros., Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and Yoshi's Island DS.
*When Mini Mario takes damage, he reverts to his normal form rather than being defeated.
*Koopa Troopas and Koopa Paratroopas wear helmets and carry weapons
*The personalities of the characters are changed (most notably Peach).
*Luigi plays the damsel in distress role instead of Peach, who joins Mario on his quest to save him.
*Pauline acts as the mayor of New York City instead of New Donk City.
*The blue shell in Mario Kart fires at the leader, while in the film, it was fired at Mario and Donkey Kong.
==Gallery==
==Transcript==
==References==
==External links==
*Official website
*Universal Picture
*Illumination Mac Guff
*IMDb
*Wikipedia
*Super Mario Bros. Plumbing website
*The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Official Teaser Trailer
da:Super Mario Bros. Filmen
de:Der Super Mario Bros. Film
es:Super Mario Bros.: La Película 
fr:Super Mario Bros. Le Film
it:Super Mario Bros. Il Film
ja:ザ・スーパーマリオブラザーズ・ムービー
ru:The Super Mario Bros. Movie
nl:The Super Mario Bros. Movie
ja:ザ・スーパーマリオブラザーズ・ムービー
Category:Illumination Entertainment
Category:The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Category:Media