The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's review embargo date sparked concerns that Universal and Nintendo may not be entirely confident in the movie's quality. The next galactic adventure of Mario and Luigi will have a tough act to follow, given that the last movie earned over $1 billion and was praised for loyally adapting the long-running Nintendo franchise. The 2026 sequel will officially have a record-breaking runtime that slightly exceeds the first, but some are concerned it will repeat key mistakes from the 2023 blockbuster.
According to a post on X from Embargo Lifts For, the review embargo for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will lift on Tuesday, March 31, just one day before the animated sequel hits theaters on Wednesday, April 1. The sequel's later-than-average first reactions date raised concerns that Nintendo and Universal aren't exactly confident in its April blockbuster.
The Mario Movie follow-up's embargo stirred up worry across social media, such as from @SonOfCairne, who compared the situation to Project Hail Mary. The Ryan Gosling-led film allowed reviews 10 days before release, so they declared this a "bad sign:"
"For reference, 'Project Hail Mary' embargo was lifted 10 days before release. This is a bad sign, generally. I predict a 50-60 average score from critics. With most being negative about pacing, story and reference bloat as seen in the trailers."
There have also been worries about how "bad press" could impact video game adaptations as a whole, with @furlan_mai66776 suggesting that a flop could prompt Hollywood to "say goodbye to game accurate adaptations:"
"If this gets the same type of bad press [Five Nights at Freddy's 2] got I think it's likely to say goodbye to game accurate adaptations since they wll use that as an reason to make more bad video game movies."
That said, @youngrxch_jay47 had a more optimistic outlook, pointing out the "Nintendo always has a review embargo one day before," meaning this may not be a show of concern but rather just maintaining a brand standard.
Why Fans Shouldn't Worry About The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
While late reviews are often a red flag in Hollywood, the same thing happened with The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with the embargo ending on April 4, 2023, just one day before the beloved Nintendo plumbers landed in theaters.
It should be noted that the animated flick didn't exactly earn rave reviews from critics, landing a disappointing 59% on Rotten Tomatoes (RT). But that didn't translate to the average moviegoer at all, as the movie has a staggering 95% audience score on RT and received an impressive "A" CinemaScore.
Despite mixed reviews from critics, The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed a staggering $1.36 billion and was generally well-liked by moviegoers. Most are expecting this year's sequel to be another billion-dollar-hit, likely of a similar caliber to its predecessor, albeit while abandoning one Mario franchise mainstay.
Universal will undoubtedly be hopeful to replicate the success of the last movie, given that it has doubled down by developing two new Mario movies at once, including this year's space-faring sequel and a Donkey Kong spin-off. The studio will also likely be eager to get a trilogy-capping third installment into development shortly, which many have speculated will be The Super Mario Odyssey Movie.
