The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opened to a $139.9 million domestic weekend over February 27-March 1, 2026, per studio estimates relayed in trade reporting — the biggest opening of the year to that point and the anchor of a spring corridor that has released a major title nearly every week since. Project Hail Mary opened March 20 and took the number-one spot into its second weekend, with roughly $301 million globally through late March per the same trade tallies.
The corridor behind them: Scream 7 opened to $63.6 million in its first weekend in early March, and Pixar's Hoppers launched March 8 to $45.3 million, holding number one the following weekend with $28.7 million, per studio Sunday estimates.
Why is the spring corridor so crowded?
Release-calendar logic. Summer 2026 was booked a year out around Star Wars and other franchise dates, so the family films, horror titles and mid-budget original features that once had summer to themselves migrated into February-April, whereIMAX and premium-format screens were still available. The result is a spring that resembles a compressed summer: four wide releases with $40-million-plus openings inside five weeks.
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What is working, and what is struggling?
Two patterns hold through the season's first leg. Animation and known-property titles are over-performing — Mario's launch, Hoppers' holds — while horror's ceiling is holding steady rather than expanding: Scream 7's $63.6 million start is front-loaded by design, with the series' core audience showing up opening weekend. Project Hail Mary is the season's genuine wild card, an original-scale science-fiction adaptation building on strong word of mouth rather than a franchise base, per the trade coverage of its second-weekend hold.
What does this mean for the summer race?
The spring's health matters because it sets the exhibition baseline: theaters enter the May corridor with a sold product mix and screens that have been busy since February. The Mandalorian and Grogu opens May 22 and Supergirl follows June 26, per the studios' release schedules, and both will want the premium-format screen count that spring's over-performers are currently occupying.
What is next?
Project Hail Mary continues its hold into April with the Easter corridor ahead, and the first true summer previews arrive in May. For the box-office year, the reading after three months: the calendar is deeper than 2025's, and the family audience is doing the carrying.
For more context, read Nolan's The Odyssey Opened With a $50 Million Opening Day.
For more context, read the mandalorian and grogu box office.
For more context, read Super Bowl LX Turned Into Hollywood's Biggest Trailer Drop.