The Super Mario Bros. Movie Was The Most Profitable Film Of 2023
2023 was one of the best years for cinema in its post-pandemic era, but between blockbuster hits like Barbie and Oppenheimer, the most profitable film was The Super Mario Bros. Movie. According to Deadline’s estimates, The Super Mario Bros Movie was the highest-grossing Illumination movie of all time with its $1.36 billion take at the global box office, and once production, advertising, and several other costs were removed, its final gross was an impressive $559 million.
As Deadline noted, the film’s production cost was $100 million and that fee was split 50-50 between Nintendo and Illumination’s parent company Universal Pictures. Advertising is estimated to have cost $150 million alone, while residuals, distribution expenses, and other vital parts of the movie business saw that overall figure rise to $400 million to make the movie.
Other successful elements of the campaign to drive audiences to watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie included partnership deals with McDonald’s and 7-Eleven, integration in a Nintendo Direct livestream, and several other promotional takeover events.