There’s no stopping the nostalgia, as The Super Mario Bros. Movie continues to steamroll the competition with a 37% drop in its third weekend, making it a hellaciously leggy animated picture to not mess with—$58.2 million made it easily stomp of another slew of more releases towards the end of April. That’s the biggest 3rd-weekend gross for an animated feature (beating out Incredibles 2) and also puts it as the highest-grossing non-sequel animated earner ever.
After three weeks of playing, Mario and his friends (and enemies) have raced toward $434.33 million domestically and $871 million globally. The $1 billion mark should be passed by next weekend, ending with around $570 million in the U.S. and $1.15 billion worldwide. Marvel might not even get the chance to try for these numbers, even with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 right around the corner. Could Mario continue its legs alongside the threequel? That remains to be witnessed, but it’ll be good times when Nintendo or Universal announces all their spin-offs, sequels, and, inevitably, new blockbuster franchise.
Evil Dead Rise pulled into second place for its opening, earning $23.5 million. Warner Brothers was correct not to shove this solely onto their newly-redesigned HBO streaming service and their first unmitigated success since Elvis. A B-score from CinemaScore and the underrated success of the horror genre has put it in a good spot. Having earned $16.8 million overseas, it’s already past $40 million worldwide and could potentially try to overtake the 2013 Evil Dead (which earned $97.5 million).
The Covenant didn’t precisely strike many hearts with a middling $6.28 million in its opening. Dramas have had a rough go of trying to combat the big blockbusters and skewing for the older audiences. Stellar reviews and an A from CinemaScore didn’t move the needle much, and Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t have the immense star power to pull people to theater chains. Yes, Guy Ritchie did helm the Sherlock Holmes‘ films and the 2019 Aladdin, but he’s pretty much in the same boat as Gyllenhaal. In today’s time, you cannot solely rely on your name for a guaranteed profit if you ain’t no Spielberg, Tarantino, Jordan Peele, or M. Night Shyamalan.
John Wick: Chapter 4 continues to leg out well, earning 4th place in its fifth weekend with $5.713 million (29% drop). Once again, it’s already the highest-earning film of the series and puts another stamp of success under Keanu Reeves’s belt. Air also dipped 29% and has earned $62.76 million worldwide. Even if its budget was rather expensive, Amazon Prime could ensure a win for Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
And lastly, Joaquin Phoenix’s Beau is Afraid stumbled with $2.71 million in its second weekend, even when adding 961 theaters; not much positive press for A24 when they continue to roll out something notable at the multiplex. If Phoenix also warns the audience about mental health before seeing the film, it might subtly be a better advertisement for Joker 2.
Next weekend sees the release of Peter Pan & Wendy, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Big George Foreman, and Sisu.
