Super Mario Galaxy Soars to $59 Million in 48 Hours, Powering Up the Box Office

Here we go again: Mario and Luigi have charged back into theaters and, shocker, they're already mopping up the box office. 'The Super Mario Galaxy Movie' hasn't even made it through its first full weekend, but it's already pulling in numbers that are tough to ignore.

According to early data (thanks, Deadline), the new Mario movie just raked in a whopping $59.1 million in its first two days. For context, that's just under what the previous movie did in its opening 48 hours ($58.2 million), so there’s clearly no sign of video game fatigue here.

But don't go expecting this thing to shoot into orbit past $200 million by the end of the holiday. Here’s why: the movie dropped 29% from Wednesday to Thursday—which, if you’re keeping score, is a steeper fall than the first film’s 16% slide over the same period. So, while the launch is huge, it feels a bit more front-loaded than last time.

Still, even if things cool down a bit, you’re probably looking at a $180 million-plus total for the long weekend. That's by far the biggest opening of 2026 so far. Love or hate the franchise, those are wild numbers.

The Other Opening Acts

Meanwhile, if you were betting on A24’s latest, 'The Drama,' to shake things up—well, everyone’s watching, but no one’s expecting a Mario-level smash. The big question is whether it can at least keep pace with Zendaya's last film, 'Challengers,' which pocketed $15 million its first weekend out.

• 'The Drama' pulled in $1.7 million during Thursday previews
• That’s about $200k less than 'Challengers' grabbed in its preview run
• It's launching over a holiday weekend, so the audience might be bigger than usual
• There's already a lot of buzz about a big plot twist, so word of mouth could get interesting

So, About Those Audience Scores...

Here’s something a lot of people outside the industry don’t pay attention to, but it matters: CinemaScore. If you’ve ever wondered what those mysterious “exit polls” are, here’s the scoop—every weekend, random moviegoers in various cities fill out a quick survey to say whether they liked a new release.

The results actually matter a lot:

'A good CinemaScore (think an A or A-) is basically a free pass for good word of mouth and a long, healthy box office run. Anything lower, and it's a steep climb. There are exceptions—horror movies never score well, but often make a killing anyway. Just ask any Blumhouse accountant.'

Just for comparison: 'Project Hail Mary' got an A and is still chugging along in its third weekend. On the flip side, Robert Pattinson and Jennifer Lawrence’s last joint venture, the 'challenging' (read: tough sell) 'Die My Love,' limped out with a D+ and promptly flopped.

At this point, the only suspense left is how big Mario goes, whether 'The Drama' can at least match Zendaya’s last showing, and what those exit polls end up saying—because if CinemaScore comes in ugly, even a flashy holiday weekend box office can’t save you.

Anyone actually heading to the movies? Let me know what you’re seeing.