Well, it’s rather a swift time at the box office this weekend, so we’ll keep it brief on our end.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be the Avatar 2– redux regarding box-office legs and domination, as it still easily remains in the No. 1 spot for a fourth consecutive weekend. Dipping 33% for a $40 million earning weekend, the nostalgic animated feature has earned $490 million domestically and $1.022 billion worldwide. Yes, that makes the Universal picture the first 1 billion dollar earner of 2023, and only a few blockbusters might have a chance of topping that this year (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will most likely not be one of them unless Marvel gets a resurgence for the trilogy capper). At this rate, Mario might have a chance to get past $600 million domestically and Incredibles 2’s total cume of $1.24 billion worldwide.
Evil Dead Rise took second place in its second weekend, earning $12.2 million. The former projections for this to only release on HBO Max were proved wrong, as it’s already past $86 million worldwide and will easily topple the 2013 Evil Dead feature. Speaking of horror, The Pope’s Exorcist has earned $61 million worldwide on an $18 million budget; does that scream sequel to anyone in the back? When in doubt, horror always finds a way.
Newcomer, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret?, had a rocky opening earning $6.8 million. The coming-of-age story won’t have a lot of juice to get past its budget, even forgoing limited overseas appeal. Lionsgate knew they could get something out of this, but a Mother’s Day release might’ve fared better. The octane thriller Sisu only took in $3.25 million from releasing at 1,006 venues. PVOD could try to salvage a lot, but Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Champion of the World (from Sony) will collapse due to a hefty budget and a dismal opening of $3 million.
John Wick: Chapter 4 added $5 million in its sixth weekend; Lionsgate has an earnest victory with their largest non-Hunger Games/Twilight earner here. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi returned to theaters for its 40th anniversary and earned $4.7 million. And Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves might be past $200 million worldwide, but it would’ve fared better not coming in complete contact with Mario as Paramount tries to cope with their losses on a $150 million budget.
Next weekend sees the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Love Again.
