The animated adventure “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has raked in a substantial amount of money, surpassing the $1 billion mark at the global box office and becoming the first 2023 release to do so. Although projections indicate that it won’t cross the threshold until the end of the weekend, Universal is confident in declaring a victory. The video game adaptation premiered on April 5 and has been a formidable presence in theaters for the entire month, retaining its position as the top release on domestic charts in its fourth weekend.

Expectedly, “Mario Bros.” is set to surpass the $1 billion mark, with a gross of $487.5 million in North America and $533 million internationally by Monday. This achievement will make it the fifth movie to accomplish this feat since the COVID pandemic began, following “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Jurassic World Dominion,” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

Undoubtedly, “Super Mario Bros.” has emerged as the highest-grossing movie of 2023 to date. In just its second week of release, it surpassed the previous record holder, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” by Disney’s Marvel ($474 million). While the upcoming summer season has a plethora of potential blockbusters, such as “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “Fast X,” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” “Mario Bros.” is expected to end with a substantial global collection that will be difficult for any movie to surpass.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” features Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, and Jack Black lending their voices to the iconic video game characters. The plot revolves around Mario and Luigi, two Italian American plumbers, who embark on a mission to rescue the enchanted Mushroom Kingdom from the wrath of Bowser, the Koopa King, who is fiercely determined to win over the enigmatic Princess Peach.