Fans go wild as ‘fantastically nostalgic’ Mario film defies critics to become a £300M box office hit

The movie Super Mario Bros. defied expectations and critics by becoming a blockbuster and making adults in their thirties “feel like kids again.”

The nostalgic film had the biggest animated film opening of all time, drawing a large audience of millennials looking to relive fond childhood memories.

Some exit polls showed that 59 percent of the audience was male and 45 percent were between the ages of 18 and 34.

Prior to the film’s release, actor Charlie Day, who voices Luigi, said the film’s biggest critic will probably be “a middle-aged guy living in his basement somewhere.”

Day’s fears about the Illumination and Universal Pictures’ The Super Mario Bros. Movie will soon be gone, having collected over £300 million at the global box office in less than a week.

While movie critics gave the Nintendo movie a poor score, explaining that it was aimed at a younger audience, many adults who grew up with the game posted photos of their journey into the movie – sometimes with their own young children.

Millennials weren’t shy about sharing their trips to the movies to see Mario on the big screen, Twitter user @thesombergamer said, “This movie made me feel like a kid again when I first discovered Super Mario.

“I want to see it again.”

As StarlightKick tweeted, “I went to the Mario movie for the second time this afternoon with two of my fellow friends. They are both in their early thirties.

One of them said, “this movie is almost my favorite movie of all time.”

“It was also so much fun to see their reactions to the film.”

Crystina Condon wrote online: “Had such a great time watching The New Super Mario Bros. Movie. If you’re a true fan, don’t listen to the critics, listen to the audience.

“Lots of fun, nostalgia and good feeling like I was 10 years old. Millennials know what’s going on’.

Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic’s $100 million-budget CG animated adventure movie based on the Nintendo video game franchise broke the record for the biggest worldwide video game adaptation opening after Warcraft ($210 million) in 2016 – according to deadline.

The Super Mario Bros. film – which grossed $146.3 million from 4,343 theaters in the US and Canada – also had the biggest worldwide opening of the entire year, higher Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($225.3 million).

And while the PG-rated family movie received a dismal 56% approval rating from critics (out of 204 reviews), audiences happily gave it a 96% rating. Rotten tomatoes.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie features the voices of Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen and Fred Armisen.

The Mario and Luigi Origin Story will begin streaming on Peacock on May 9 and on Netflix at the end of 2023.