Disney CEO Bob Iger praised the recently released Super Mario Bros. Movie, saying that it gives him and the rest of the company optimism about the movie business moving forward.
What did Bob Iger have to say about The Super Mario Bros. Movie?
During Disney’s recent quarterly earnings call on Wednesday (via VGC), Iger started off by talking about Universal and its success with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Iger said that it “proves people love to be entertained in theaters” and gave them a reason to still be optimistic about the movie business as a whole.
“Good afternoon everyone,” Iger said. “Allow me to digress for a moment to congratulate Universal for the tremendous success of Super Mario Bros.. It certainly proves people love to be entertained in theaters around the world, and it gives us reason to be optimistic about the movie business.”
The comments come following the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie last month, with the film quickly becoming a massive success for Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal Pictures. So far, the film has grossed $748.7 million worldwide at the box office, making it the highest-grossing film of 2023 and also making it the highest-grossing film based on a video game ever.
The feature also set box office records for the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film ever and is expected to surpass $1 billion at the box office when all is said and done.
Recently, the creator of the Super Mario franchise, Shigeru Miyamoto, teased that Nintendo’s next film adaptation could feature other iconic characters from its large roster of video game classics.
“Please keep an eye on our next production,” Miyamoto said of future Nintendo movies. He then noted that “Nintendo is like a talent agency. We have many other entertainers (on our roster).”
