The Super Mario Bros. Movie continues to defy expectations, dropping only 41% in its second weekend to land at a Bowzer-sized $87 million, making it the best sophomore frame for an animated picture. As has been the case for a few weeks now, there has been one powerhouse movie that basically everyone went to theaters to see, with the rest scraping in single-digit crumbs.
This film, directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, has now generated $347.8M domestically. Worldwide, it has raked in $678M so it is well on its way to generating $1 billion, especially considering that Super Mario hasn’t opened in Japan, the country where this franchise originated.
As far as new releases this weekend, the race came down to two horror-based projects. The victor wound up being the straight-up horror flick The Pope’s Exorcist starring Russell Crowe which took the #2 spot with $8.5M, edging out the comedic Renfield starring Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Holt which landed at #3 with $7.7M. This is ahead of the release of yet another horror movie, Evil Dead Rise next weekend.
Neither The Pope’s Exocist nor Renfield were particularly well-received. The Pope’s Exorcist has a crummy 47% Rotten Tomatoes critical rating, although its audience score is much higher at 87%.
Meanwhile, Renfield got a slightly higher critical score of 59% (still not great) and a lower audience score of 81%.
John Wick: Chapter 4 is still hovering in the Top Five at #4, taking in an additional $7.67M, bringing its domestic total to $159.8M.
Remarkably, Amazon Prime Video’s Air is also hanging in there, rounding out the Top Five with $7.6M. This was a movie that was intended for streaming but as most services are doing these days, it was released in theaters to build hype.
This means that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has become the latest big-budget would-be franchise picture to essentially tank at the box office. In its third weekend, this film has only managed to scrape up $74.1M domestically.
Check out the Top Five below:
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- Super Mario Bros Movie (Illuminations/Universal) – 3-day $87M/ Total $347.8M/ Wk 2
- Pope’s Exorcist (Sony) – 3-day $8.5M/ Wk 1
- Renfield (Universal) – 3-day $7.7M/ Wk 1
- John Wick: Chapter 4 (Lionsgate) – 3-day $7.67/ Total $159.8M/Wk 4
- Air (Amazon) – 3-day $7.6M/ Total $33.1M/ Wk 2
Evil Dead Rise opens next weekend, but that’s another niche horror movie. It may make some waves but expect The Super Mario Bros. Movie to land on top again.
The next big movie coming out is Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, on May 3, but as of right now, that flick isn’t tracking very well and may wind up as the lowest opening of that particular franchise AND the latest comic book movie to underwhelm. It seems increasingly clear that “superhero fatigue” isn’t just a catchphrase.
