Boy howdy. I never thought I'd see the day, but lo! and behold, the box office is actually bumping.
The super-de-duper combo of "Project Hail Mary" and the second installment of the Super Mario Bros. movie, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," turned into a cultural force some are calling "Project Hail Mario."
As reported by That Park Place, the two movies' earnings combined into a hype generation machine that has people heading to theaters, with "Mario Galaxy" raking in $371 million worldwide and "Hail Mary" tracking to cross the $350 million global mark itself.
Ryan Gosling’s PROJECT HAIL MARY is tracking to become, this weekend, the first Amazon MGM to cross the $350M mark at the global box office.
— Global Box Office (@GlobalBoxOffice) April 4, 2026
Domestically, it’s expected to drop only -45% even after losing all PLFs and IMAX screens to MARIO. pic.twitter.com/tACgaJiSux
What's more, "Hail Mary's" drop-off isn't expected to be as steep as others have been, giving theaters a fat take of the 1-2 Project Hail Mario punch:
For exhibitors, this is about as good as it gets. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is delivering the kind of opening that can dominate headlines and drive concession traffic for days, while Project Hail Mary is giving the market a second engine, one that keeps older skewing audiences and premium ticket buyers engaged instead of vanishing the moment fresh competition arrives. If these estimates hold, the biggest takeaway from the weekend may not simply be that Mario is huge. It may be that 2026 finally has a genuine theatrical rhythm again, with more than one film at a time capable of behaving like an event.
I can attest to "Hail Mary's" staying power. I saw the movie myself, and I can say, without reservation, that this is going to be my favorite movie of 2026. It balances humor, drama, intrigue, and even nerdy concepts so well that it actually reminded me of hay-day Spielberg films. By the time it was over, I was fully satisfied with my movie-going experience, which is something I can't say I've felt in some time.
And I'm not the only person who feels that way about the film. It's a good movie, one of the best I've seen in some time, and that kind of word of mouth is what gets people into theaters nowadays. Not viral marketing or saturation. It's Fred telling James to go see it as soon as he can. As you may recall, that's exactly what caused the YouTuber Markiplier's indie film "Iron Lung" to go gangbusters as well.
If you want more on that, I made a YouTube video about the word-of-mouth effect having crafted that film's success.
But what makes these movies so good? What was the secret sauce?
Was it nostalgia? Was it more free time for audiences? Was it the stars aligning?
No. The movies were just fun, and they were fun because they were made for people.
Not critics. Not Hollywood denizens and rooms of elitists. These films were made for you and me. There was no preaching. No messaging. No weird socio-political intrusions, unnecessary race or gender swaps. Just movies made for the fans.
I saw some people giving the "Mario Galaxy" movie a hard time for not being a film with a lot of depth or meaning, and one parent took to TikTok to tell everyone, "My kid loved it and had a great time, and that's all that matters."
And you know what? That's all some parents need to hear to load their kids up and buy a large popcorn.
If it's fun, audiences will show up.
I think Hollywood lost that mentality so long ago. They forgot who they ultimately work for. We pay them, and the movies they make are ultimately for us.
It's so nice to see at least two movies that reflect that understanding, and I truly hope that studios and celebrities will look at the likes of "Hail Mary," "Mario," and "Iron Lung," and realize that once more.
