Illumination Animation Discussion

[RainySunshine]

And another... Despicable Me 4.

[Sniffles]

I thought I would follow up on their film Migration, about the ducks.  So how did an original idea (the very thing people are clamoring for) film do?  Did people put the money where there mouth was and see it?

Yeah. It had a budget of $79million and made $269million.  It did well. It got mostly positive reviews.

[Silverwing]

Who else forgot about Illumination? I know I did!

They announced their next move.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

[Crimson Crest]

Mario fans win once again with this sequel! Looks like more references galore, though I'm surprised they didn't show Yoshi in the trailer since the dino was teased at the end of the first movie.

[Silverwing]

Looks like they will have another mega-hit on their hands in terms of money. Doesn't matter how good, mid, or poor the film may be.

[FoxTail]

Supposedly they are going to make a The Secret Life of Pets 3 and Sing 3.  Just more and more sequels.

[Crimson Crest]

The final Direct for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie just came out today, and with it comes the proper reveal of another new character and some voice reveals, including one for a character that has yet to be seen in any clips so far.

Sure, the movie is probably just going to be loads of nostalgia bait like the original, but at least there's also a sneeze/snort from the T-Rex, as seen in a clip someone got footage of on Twitter.

[Crimson Crest]

So, uh... I guess Fox McCloud is confirmed for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Don't believe me? Look it up.

[Anyponedrawn]

The new Super Mario Galaxy movies is getting BLASTED by critics as terrible. Wow.  Did not see that coming. Nonetheless, it will easily meet its budget as people will go regardless, but it is being drug through the mud.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 42% of 138 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Packed with colorful world-building that's as frenetic as it is weightless, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's visuals are often out of this world but the threadbare story ultimately loses its Milky Way."

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 35 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

[MasterXtreme]

The new Super Mario Galaxy movies is getting BLASTED by critics as terrible. Wow.  Did not see that coming. Nonetheless, it will easily meet its budget as people will go regardless, but it is being drug through the mud.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 42% of 138 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Packed with colorful world-building that's as frenetic as it is weightless, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's visuals are often out of this world but the threadbare story ultimately loses its Milky Way."

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 35 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

They could have shoveled hot poop for the audience and it still would have been a monetary success . . . at least for this second movie.  They won't be so lucky with a third movie now that the masses know.

Kids will still like it and certainly Nintendo die hards will too.  So it still has its audience, no matter the quality of the story. Visually, Illumination seems to have done a good job, spending more than they ever have before at about $110 million.  That is $10 million more than any movie they've ever made. 

[MasterXtreme]

Actually, this film has already outdone its $110 million budget.  Already at $370 worldwide this Easter weekend.  But here is a collage of the reviews.  They are not kind.


Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave The Super Mario Galaxy Movie one out of five, calling it a "bland screensaver of a movie that's actually worse than AI" and "an inert and uninteresting follow-up".

Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent gave the film two out of five, calling it "a joke-free sequel that doubles down on its own blandness."

Owen Gleiberman of Variety, who praised the previous film, called it a "frenetic and disappointing sequel", while also stating: "...it almost seems like these talented artists have been body-snatched."

Clint Worthington of RogerEbert.com gave it one and a half out of four, writing: "This is not a movie to be scrutinised, but to allow beleaguered elder millennial dads to sit their tots down for a precious two hours (if you count the trailers) and get some much-needed rest."

Wilson Chapman of IndieWire gave The Super Mario Galaxy Movie a grade of C–, saying that while the video game "is filled with moments of euphoric joy", the film "registers as flat, imagination packed into the most cleanly corporate and focus-group approved form possible."

In Screen Daily, Tim Grierson wrote that it had "strained humor and cluttered action sequences ... too often this Illumination production mistakes visual and narrative busyness for genuine excitement."

[Anyponedrawn]

Even the biggest Nintendo fan in the world didn't like the film.  Overall, the group gave a rating of 4/10 for the new Super Mario Galaxy movie.

[Grapefoot]

Update! As of April 7, 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has grossed $222 million in the United States and Canada, and $207 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $429 million. The film made $34 million on its first day, outperforming its predecessor's $31.7 million.

[RainySunshine]

It could hit a billion. It is at a box office of $833 million.

Nintendo and Universal filed copyright information for an "Untitled Donkey Kong Project" in May 2025.

In March 2026, Jack Black inadvertently revealed plans for a third Mario movie to be released in 2029.

In April 2026, following the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Miyamoto implied that there were no plans for a crossover film based on the Super Smash Bros. video game series, "I'll say that unlike something like Super Smash Bros., I don't think you'll have a situation [where] all Nintendo characters would be joining."

[Anyponedrawn]

It could hit a billion. It is at a box office of $833 million.

As of June 7, 2026, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has grossed $429 million in the United States and Canada, and $572 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1 billion. Produced on a budget of $110 million, the film is currently the highest-grossing film of 2026 and the highest-grossing animated film of the year.

The film also set the record for the biggest global opening at the box office in 2026, the only animated film franchise with two films opening to over $350 million globally, the fifth-biggest global opening for an animated film of all time, the second-biggest global opening for an Illumination film, the second-biggest opening for a film based on a video game, and the fourth-biggest Easter three-day opening of all time.