Damn, *Super Mario Galaxy*. Just one film, but 50% of all theatrical admissions this week went to the plumber. If this was a market share in any other sector, we’d be seeing anti-trust proceedings. The knock-on effect on older releases is palpable – *Rays* & *Project Hail Mary* which were seeing their drop steady notably mid-week 2 took a big hit, with the former having lost almost two thirds of it’s locations while the latter had fewer & fewer IMAX/prestige screenings. For the others, it’s nothing short of a rout.
The boost from the three-day Easter weekend didn’t only go to *SMG*. But the few successes mask a continuing shallowness to the top 10, with the stragglers gathering fewer than 80k viewers. *Super Mario Galaxy* sucked-up a lot of the attention, whereas on the plumber’s first outing, the presence of Part I of *The Three Musketeers* opening the same week gave the box-office some depth.
It’s entirely possible *SMG*’s win could spread to a larger revitalisation in coming weeks. The similarly positioned hit *Marsupilami* led a rally in February – top of the marquee films don’t succeed in isolation, but could drive repeat visits to the theatre.
I won’t add much about the conversation around the film – I didn’t register any pointless slapfights around the quality of the film. Unless it has an effect on the performance, which I doubt, it’s not necessarily important.
**SMG**
*Mario* had a lot going for it in the homeland of Illuminations. A nation of weebs & a big market for the first film, France predictably gave *Super Mario Galaxy* the kind of barnstorming opening week it’s seen elsewhere. This was the biggest week of 2026 at the box-office so far but also the biggest Saturday & Monday, when most schools & businesses were closed for Easter. With 1,8M viewers, *SMG* outdid it’s predecessor’s OW by 25%. I wouldn’t recommend using Allociné to get a sense of the reception this time around. Though the site is useful as an aggregator, this time they’re clearly favouring *SMG*: *Mario*’s 3,1/5 critical consensus is built on a low review number, inflated with a big glut of hack newspapers. Audiences seem to break roughly favourable, like they did with the first film. As is true in many markets, the spring holidays are coming & I expect the film will be eating well during the half-term, though stronger local & Hollywood competition is coming.
Mario’s success was also indirectly visible in the failure of another new release, *Unlucky Draw*. Staring & directed by comedy legend Gérard Jugnot, the film is a reunion with Thierry Lhermitte: together, these two have made some of the most beloved comedies in French cinema. This new outing had the makings of good counter-programming for older audiences or a compromise option for families split down the middle on Mario. But badly reviewed, and probably hurt by Jugnot’s recent era of hardcore selling-out, I think there was little incentive for any parent or a grandparent to force-march their kids to this instead of the big event. Who knows, maybe later in the half-term break once the kids have seen the plumber.
**The Drama**
I hate to open with criticism, but A24 remain cautious in how they roll-out their films in France & it’s hurt them again. On the positive side, the brand recognition of A24 in France seems to finally be as robust as in other markets. Like *Marty Supreme*’s, *The Drama* came out to a pretty dynamic burst of interest given the size of the release. The film was set to do well: within France, the leads had a splashy run of media appearances & the film’s social media game seems to be working. I think Borgli’s style of pitch-black Scandinavian social criticism also has potential with the same middle-brow French audience that flocks to Thomas Vinterberg films.
Given the lack of other options for an older teen demographic, the film could also do well in that quadrant in the next two weeks. *Dolly* has bombed, though it was a tiny release. Last week’s *How to Make a Killing* & *They Will Kill You* are already on their way out – with roughly the same amount of locations as Drama this week, they achieved another 30k & 40k viewers respectively. Decent average, but they’re unlikely to pass 200k.
The question remains: why was the movie only playing in 294 locations? Domestically, *The Drama*’s opening was a lot gutsier, with 2/3 as many screens as *Mario*; the proportion here was 1/3. I really think this could’ve made it to >700k admissions with a wider release.
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**It’s Mario’s Galaxy & we’re just living in it**
Damn, *Super Mario Galaxy*. Just one film, but 50% of all theatrical admissions this week went to the plumber. If this was a market share in any other sector, we’d be seeing anti-trust proceedings. The knock-on effect on older releases is palpable – *Rays* & *Project Hail Mary* which were seeing their drop steady notably mid-week 2 took a big hit, with the former having lost almost two thirds of it’s locations while the latter had fewer & fewer IMAX/prestige screenings. For the others, it’s nothing short of a rout.
The boost from the three-day Easter weekend didn’t only go to *SMG*. But the few successes mask a continuing shallowness to the top 10, with the stragglers gathering fewer than 80k viewers. *Super Mario Galaxy* sucked-up a lot of the attention, whereas on the plumber’s first outing, the presence of Part I of *The Three Musketeers* opening the same week gave the box-office some depth.
It’s entirely possible *SMG*’s win could spread to a larger revitalisation in coming weeks. The similarly positioned hit *Marsupilami* led a rally in February – top of the marquee films don’t succeed in isolation, but could drive repeat visits to the theatre.
I won’t add much about the conversation around the film – I didn’t register any pointless slapfights around the quality of the film. Unless it has an effect on the performance, which I doubt, it’s not necessarily important.
**SMG**
*Mario* had a lot going for it in the homeland of Illuminations. A nation of weebs & a big market for the first film, France predictably gave *Super Mario Galaxy* the kind of barnstorming opening week it’s seen elsewhere. This was the biggest week of 2026 at the box-office so far but also the biggest Saturday & Monday, when most schools & businesses were closed for Easter. With 1,8M viewers, *SMG* outdid it’s predecessor’s OW by 25%. I wouldn’t recommend using Allociné to get a sense of the reception this time around. Though the site is useful as an aggregator, this time they’re clearly favouring *SMG*: *Mario*’s 3,1/5 critical consensus is built on a low review number, inflated with a big glut of hack newspapers. Audiences seem to break roughly favourable, like they did with the first film. As is true in many markets, the spring holidays are coming & I expect the film will be eating well during the half-term, though stronger local & Hollywood competition is coming.
Mario’s success was also indirectly visible in the failure of another new release, *Unlucky Draw*. Staring & directed by comedy legend Gérard Jugnot, the film is a reunion with Thierry Lhermitte: together, these two have made some of the most beloved comedies in French cinema. This new outing had the makings of good counter-programming for older audiences or a compromise option for families split down the middle on Mario. But badly reviewed, and probably hurt by Jugnot’s recent era of hardcore selling-out, I think there was little incentive for any parent or a grandparent to force-march their kids to this instead of the big event. Who knows, maybe later in the half-term break once the kids have seen the plumber.
**The Drama**
I hate to open with criticism, but A24 remain cautious in how they roll-out their films in France & it’s hurt them again. On the positive side, the brand recognition of A24 in France seems to finally be as robust as in other markets. Like *Marty Supreme*’s, *The Drama* came out to a pretty dynamic burst of interest given the size of the release. The film was set to do well: within France, the leads had a splashy run of media appearances & the film’s social media game seems to be working. I think Borgli’s style of pitch-black Scandinavian social criticism also has potential with the same middle-brow French audience that flocks to Thomas Vinterberg films.
Given the lack of other options for an older teen demographic, the film could also do well in that quadrant in the next two weeks. *Dolly* has bombed, though it was a tiny release. Last week’s *How to Make a Killing* & *They Will Kill You* are already on their way out – with roughly the same amount of locations as Drama this week, they achieved another 30k & 40k viewers respectively. Decent average, but they’re unlikely to pass 200k.
The question remains: why was the movie only playing in 294 locations? Domestically, *The Drama*’s opening was a lot gutsier, with 2/3 as many screens as *Mario*; the proportion here was 1/3. I really think this could’ve made it to >700k admissions with a wider release.