Regardless of how big a fan you are of Chris Pratt’s Mario voice, odds are if you’re into Nintendo games, you’ve already been to see the Super Mario Bros. Movie, or have at least made plans to do so.
That said, if you’re not a fanatical stan of the moustachioed plumber, you might have decided not to run to the cinema and instead wait for the critical consensus on the film to emerge, giving you an idea of what you’ll be in for from the movie and whether Jack Black’s nether regions make an unexpected appearance in it.
Though, as reported by Axios, the box office numbers for the film that have been released thus far suggest that most people haven’t been put off by its mixed reviews, with one analyst having estimated that it could earn Nintendo over $1 billion in profit.
Have you already been to see the Super Mario Bros. Movie?
According to the report, the analyst in question, MST Financial’s David Gibson, projects that the film could earn $1.2 billion at the box office worldwide, plus an extra $2.3 billion from digital sales, leaving Nintendo with around $1.1 billion in profit, following the subtraction of the costs associated with making the film and the allocation of some revenue to animation studio Illumination Entertainment.
Gibson has since explained how he arrived at these conclusions in a Twitter thread, revealing: “(Its three day) opening weekend (grossed) $146 million for the movie, which is highly correlated with final box office. Hence my estimate of (a) $1.21 billion final global box office for (The Super Mario Bros Movie).”
He also added with regards to his digital revenue projection that he expects the box office numbers to only account for roughly 30% of the film’s total revenue, based on data for previous movies, saying: “when digital (releases) happen the margins are (usually) large, hence the $1.1billion estimate to Nintendo.”
Regardless of whether the movie manages to live up to these lofty financial predictions, it’ll definitely have a chance to secure the Japanese publisher a ‘Best Original Song’ Oscar, with Universal having revealed to Variety that Bowser’s ballad ‘Peaches’, which features Jack Black’s dulcet tones, will be eligible for the Academy Award category.
Even if you’re already queuing up to sit through The Super Mario Movie for the tenth time, make sure to follow us for guides to all things Mario and Nintendo.