The kids demographic continues to carry cinema to prosperity.
Children-oriented animated feature film “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” (image above) from Universal Pictures is the latest example, bagging a staggering $131 million in domestic boxoffice over the three-day Easter-holiday weekend (and $190 million for five days when including Wednesday and Thursday). Its ticket sales are a breathtaking $372 million globally so far, exceeding prerelease expectations.
Powered by “Mario Galaxy’s” blockbuster opening, this weekend’s aggregate domestic (U.S. and Canada) boxoffice soared 109% compared with the same weekend a year earlier, per The-Numbers website. But the domestic cinema is still digging out from the pandemic closures and interrupted film flow from two crippling Hollywood labor strikes in 2023.
“Mario Galaxy” is at its core a colorful big-screen adaptation of a Nintendo video game that has little appeal for adults. “Apparently it doesn’t matter that all Mario, Luigi and Peach do for a screeching hour and 40 minutes is partake in a tedious chain of overlong chase and fight scenes,” writes reviewer Johnny Oleksinski.
“There is nothing to like or admire … endearing characters and focused stories should be a given at an animated film,” but aren’t here. Oleksinski is entertainment writer for newspapers the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal. His scathing film appraisal is headlined: “‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ review: It’ll make $1 billion — and it sucks.”
Variety headlined its review by Owen Gleiberman: “Frenetic and Disappointing Sequel is a Threadbare Adventure That’s All Video-Game Easter Eggs.” The “Easter eggs” are embedding hidden meanings in digital content, such as subtle references in the movie to the video game that are essentially random insider jokes.
Nonetheless, “Mario Galaxy” is the latest of a succession of theatrical films elevated by the children’s audience of ages 12-and-under to blockbuster heights. Other recent kid-oriented blockbuster releases — all of which are also animated — include Disney’s animated “Hoppers,” Disney’s “Zootopia 2,” Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and Sony Pictures’ “GOAT.” These are rated PG (meaning Parental Guidance only a few fleeting scenes are a little intense for children). Universal Pictures’ live-action Wizard of Oz spinoff “Wicked: For Good” is another PG-rated family film suitable for children.
In addition, Amazon/MGM’s recent live-action sci-fi blockbuster “Project Hail Mary” is also kid-friendly, though carries a slightly more stringent audience classification of PG-13 (meaning fleeting scenes of stronger violence, language, or brief nudity). “Project Hail Mary’s” hero character portrayed by Ryan Gosling is an unassuming high school science teacher.
Per researcher Bruce Nash at The-Numbers website on “Mario Galaxy’s” audience, “As one would expect, the demographics of the movie skews young: 28% of the audience is 12 or younger, 10% 13–17, 13% 18–24, and 22% 25–34. The 2% of the audience that’s 55+ are probably mostly there with their grandkids.”
That 28% of “Mario Galaxy’s” cinema audience at age 12 or younger is outsized because it compares with 16% for that demo in the overall population U.S. population.
Hollywood can wow the kids’ audience with relatively low-priced movies, which boosts profits. The cartoon-film “Mario Galaxy” reportedly cost $110 million to make, while top-tier animated films from Walt Disney Studios carry price tags for twice as much. The kid’s demographic is less demanding for production values and star power, so moderately-budget films can pop.
Professional film critics tend to pan kid flicks, as well as formulaic films in other genres such as horror. The “Melania” documentary from First Lady attracted withering criticism, though audiences showed up at cinemas making the fluffy film a hit by docu standards.
But in marketing, “Mario Galaxy” was pitched to audiences like a regular major-studio tentpole release with a pricey Super Bowl TV commercial a month ago, though in an adjacency and not in-game. And there are also “Mario” merchandise tie-ins with Jaxx Pacific Inc. toys and an Old Spice personal care promotion tie-in.
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