In the wake of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s stellar box-office opening, Illumination boss Chris Meledandri has revealed how the animation studio was able to forge such a thriving film franchise around the beloved video game character. The veteran producer talked about his company’s collaboration with Nintendo at a recent event, revealing Shigeru Miyamoto to be the “secret” sauce behind the financial success of the Super Mario movies.
Chris Meledandri reveals the ‘secret’ behind Super Mario movies’ success
The veteran film producer noted that Illumination’s Super Mario features have been able to dominate the box office primarily due to Nintendo and series creator Shigeru Miyamoto’s involvement in the projects.
“The secret is being able to bring Miyamoto-san and the team into the center of the process,” Chris Meledandri said in a recent red-carpet interview. “It’s not something that we had ever done at Illumination. You know, we had made 10 movies at Illumination. We had made all of them completely inside the studio. So, this was the first time that we were going to work in a new way.”
Describing Miyamoto as a “secret weapon,” Meledandri added, “I’m not just complimenting Miyamoto-san because he’s standing here. Part of me doesn’t want to give away this secret because it’s like having the secret to Coca-Cola and then giving it away. The secret actually is the inclusion of Miyamoto-san and the Nintendo artists in the center of the filmmaking process.”
Additionally, Chris Meledandri stated that Illumination’s partnership with Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo has been through all stages of making the film, from start till end.
Notably, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie only premiered in theaters on April 1 but has already managed to earn $34 million on its opening day, as per Deadline. This collection not only eclipsed the opening day earnings of its 2023 predecessor but also became the best opening day for a 2026 movie (so far).
In a similar fashion, 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie surprised everyone with its popularity, wrapping up its theatrical run with a worldwide box office collection of over $1.3 billion, as per Box Office Mojo.
