Super Mario is probably the most successful plumber in the world. Behind the beloved children’s brand lurks an economic monster estimated to be worth more than $60 billion.
The film “Super Mario Galaxy,” which opened in Israel this week, already grossed $373 million worldwide in its opening weekend, making it the strongest film debut so far in 2026. The first film in the series, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” released in 2023, is considered one of the most profitable in history, with revenue of about $1.4 billion. But those enormous numbers are still the small money in the mustachioed plumber’s revenue portfolio.
The big money for Nintendo comes from video games, with cumulative revenue of about $50 billion. The many game series built around Mario have sold nearly 1 billion copies to date, second only to Pokémon. To that must be added merchandise, toys and comic books, which have so far generated more than $10 billion.
The release of “Super Mario Galaxy” in Israel was postponed because of the war from the Passover holiday period to last weekend, but the film is already shaping up as a box-office hit here as well.
So what is the secret of Mario’s success?
“It’s a movie and a brand that cuts across age groups, one that both parents and children enjoy, whether they play Nintendo or not,” explained Matan Talmor, marketing manager at Tulip Entertainment, the Israeli distributor for Universal Studios. “Both children and adults know Mario’s animated characters. I’m 40, and on Saturday I went to see the movie with my daughters. So far, close to 70,000 people have seen the film, and it is the biggest opening of 2026 in Israel too, just like around the world.”
Talmor said the film’s success at the Israeli box office also stems from the fact that its target audience is children ages 8 to 12, who are highly connected to everything happening abroad. The film’s success in the United States, where it did open on its original date in early April, during Easter, created strong anticipation for it in Israel.
U.S. box-office sales place it at the top of the list of the most successful films of 2026 so far, as it approaches $750 million in revenue. In less than three weeks, it has already made half the revenue of the first film.
Nintendo, which was founded 130 years ago as a playing-card company, is the main company profiting from Super Mario. Today, of course, game consoles have replaced the cards, and Nintendo, alongside Sony, maker of PlayStation, is considered one of the world’s biggest gaming companies, with the two sharing the lead in a range of countries.
“In Israel, there are close to 400,000 active Nintendo Switch users,” said Ruby Ovadia, Nintendo brand manager in Israel at Tor Gaming, which markets Mario along with Pokémon, Zelda, Kirby and others. “Mario specifically is the leading brand in Israel within Nintendo’s lineup, accounting for between 35% and 45% of the range of our products sold in Israel, whether that is games, shirts, hats, dolls and so on.”
What is the relationship between the console and the film? How do they affect each other?
“The film was born out of Nintendo’s overall universe, and it also salutes other iconic Nintendo games. The leading character is of course Mario, but alongside him are Peach, who is the female character in Mario’s world, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Mario’s brother, of course, and others. There is a huge audience for Nintendo and Mario in Israel.”
Why do people love Mario so much?
“The love for Mario plays on two things. He is nostalgic, and he has been with all of us, children and adults alike, since childhood. In Israel specifically, there is a huge audience that loves games that do not project violence and evil. We have no shortage of violence and evil in reality, and Mario offers a combination of games that are both pleasant and highly challenging. From the outside, Mario may look like a simple game, but it absolutely challenges players’ abilities, and it is always surprising. No Mario game looks like the one before it. One time it is racing, another time it is puzzles, and so on.”
What is next for Mario? Is there already something in the works?
“Sometime this year, a major Mario game is probably expected to be launched. I can’t say when or which one.”
So yes, fans have something to look forward to.