The first film of 2023 to earn $1 billion at global box office has been revealed

It joins a very prestigious group of films.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is officially the first film to cross the coveted $1 billion milestone in 2023. As of Sunday, April 30, just 26 days after it released in cinemas, the animated video game adaptation has grossed $490 million in North America and $532 million at the international box office. It's only the fifth movie since the Covid-19 pandemic to join the $1 billion club, following Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion and Avatar: The Way of Water. It's also only the 10th animated film to achieve the feat, and the first to do it since pre-pandemic times. The Super Mario movie had an extremely impressive opening weekend, which saw it already smashing big records across its release. At the end of its first weekend in cinemas, the movie grossed $375.6 million worldwide, making it the biggest worldwide opening of all time for an animated movie - defeating previous title holder Frozen II. It also defeated Warcraft in having the biggest opening of all time for a video game adaptation. Jack Black, who plays Bowser in the animated film, also broke new ground for himself last week. The multi-talented actor made it into Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first time in his career with his The Super Mario Bros. Movie song 'Peaches'. The anthem for film debuted at number 83 in the top 100, with fans calling the tune a "masterpiece". With the movie a huge success already, there's no doubt going to be multiple sequels coming our way. Black already has some new cast members in mind, specifically who should play Wario, one of Mario's arch nemeses. “You know, what if there is a more powerful, more evil villain? Then I may need to be turned to help Mario and the rest to defend our universe against some other unseen force of evil. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Wario. Pedro Pascal is Wario.”

Related articles:

• Molly Ringwald reveals why she turned down the lead role in Pretty Woman
• Fans convinced next James Bond has been revealed after actor drops hint
• 40 years ago today, one of the most stylish movies of all time hit cinemas
• A multiple award-winning drama is among the movies on TV tonight