The Super Mario Bros Movie is the highest-grossing “rotten” movie

❘ Published: 2023-05-22T19:05:29

A close up of Mario looking shocked in The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Universal Pictures

Despite having a low rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has made bank at the box office.

Rotten Tomatoes, the site where critics and regular people can leave their scores for any movie, is one of the most trusted sources to gage how the public feels about a certain movie. But, just because a movie has a low or rotten score doesn’t mean it wasn’t a hit anyways.

Some of the biggest box office successes have gotten low scores on Rotten Tomatoes and The Super Mario Bros. Movie has just added itself to that legacy. Despite audiences’ reservations about the movie’s cast and critics ripping it to shreds, the movie has become a huge success financially.

“Rotten” Super Maro Bros. Movie still dominates the box office

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is sitting at the low critic score of 59% on Rotten Tomatoes while the audience score is at a staggering 96%. This discrepancy is incredibly interesting because it shows how divided critics and the general public can be when it comes to certain movies.

However, despite critics seemly feeling lukewarm about the film, its box office earnings show how strong audience approval was.

According to ComicBook.com, The Super Mario Bros. Movie earned around $550 million in U.S. and Canada ticket sales and Collider reported that it made just under $770 million from oversea, for a grand total of $1.248 billion in overall ticket sales.

That means The Super Mario Bros. Movie has become the third biggest animated film of all time, surpassing The Incredibles who made $1.243 billion at the box office.

Mario and Peach in The Super Mario Bros Movie

What are the best-performing “rotten” movies at the box office?

The Super Maro Bros. Movie’s accomplishment at the box office is incredibly impressive, but it’s not the first time a movie with a rotten score has surpassed expectations in ticket sales. Below is a top 10 list of films with rotten scores who made bank in ticket sales:

The Lion King: 52% / $1.656 billion
The Super Mario Bros. Movie: 59% / $1.243 billion
Minions: 55% / $1.159 Billion
Transformers: Dark Of The Moon: 35% / $1.123 Billion
Transformers: Age Of Extinction: 17% / $1.1 billion
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker: 52% / $1.074 billion
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest: 53% / $1.066 billion
Aladdin (2019): 57% / $1.050 billion
Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: 33% / $1.045 billion
Despicable Me 3: 53% / $1.034 billion

The Super Mario Bros. Movie just proves that a film doesn’t have to be a critical success to make money. Some films rely on the source material, like a beloved video game or existing film franchise, to attract its audience and some films have original ideas, but they’re not everyone’s cup of tea.

At the end of the day, if people like your movie, the money will roll in.

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