The year 2023 should be a good one for Hollywood. Domestic box office revenue has already reached $4.2 billion. That compares to $7.4 billion all of last year. At the top of the list, this year is “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”. Released on April 5, it has posted total domestic ticket sales of $562 million. (also check out: 45 movies based on video games, ranked from worst to best)
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” is well ahead of the competition. In second place, released on May 5, is “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” with a total domestic box office of $345 million. It is another example of how well sequels can do.
The following two winners are sequels as well. In third place in “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” with revenue of $285 million. It was released on June 2, so it has room to increase its figures sharply. After that, “Avatar: The Way of Water” was $283 million. It was released on December 16 of last year. That makes it the only movie at the top of the list released in 2022.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” seems an odd success at first. Animated, it is based on the Nintendo game first released in 1981. An earlier movie, “Mario Bros.” was released in 1993. The reception to that film was mediocre. “Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!” was released in 1986.
The success of the recent movie is likely based on the success of the video game franchise. There have been 826 million copies of the game sold. Of those, 385 were “Super Mario” versions. Although smaller than rival gaming platforms like Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation, the Nintendo platform has done exceptionally well.
Universal released the movies. Famous actors, including Chris Pratt, Jack Black, and Seth Rogen, provided the main characters’ voices.
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