Universal’s THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE fought off its competition to maintain the top spot at the box office for the fourth consecutive week, earning $40M this weekend and $490M overall since its April 5th opening. Among SUPER MARIO’s many box office accomplishments, it ranks 19th among all domestic movie releases in history and 2nd among animated movies, trailing only Pixar’s INCREDIBLES 2 which earned $609M following its opening on June 5, 2018. SUPER MARIO has also become the 2nd highest-grossing picture in Universal’s 111-year history, surpassed only by JURASSIC WORLD which earned $652M in its run beginning on June 10, 2015.
Over the past 12 months, exhibitors have enjoyed three top-tier blockbusters. On Memorial Day weekend last year, Tom Cruise’s TOP GUN: MAVERICK broke through the sound barrier to earning a total domestic gross of $719M. For the holidays, James Cameron’s AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER presented its gift to the industry, with a domestic gross of $684M. This chart shows how Nintendo’s video game superhero stacks up against these two box office giants after its first four weekends.
In full disclosure, SUPER MARIO’s four-week numbers include two additional days because it opened on a Wednesday. Regardless, the plumber has earned his way to success in a non-holiday, non-summertime period when blockbusters are not expected. This weekend will be the last one when SUPER MARIO remains #1, giving way to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 3 which opens next Friday.
Warner Bros.’ EVIL DEAD RISE finished in second place with a gross of $12.2M, a drop of 50% from last weekend’s opening. After ten days EVIL DEAD RISE has earned an impressive $44.4M and appears to be following a similar path to the earlier EVIL DEAD from 2013, the top box office performer among the five movies in the series. EVIL DEAD earned $41.5M in its first 10 days in 2013, had a second-weekend drop of 63%, and wound up with $54.2M. We expect EVIL DEAD RISE to wind up with a domestic total in the mid-$60M range.
Lionsgate’s ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET opened in third place with a $6.8M weekend total. For over fifty years, Judy Blume’s young adult novel has resonated with readers based on telling a relatable story with amusing insights as it looks at life’s fundamental questions as seen through the eyes of 11-year-old Margaret. The cast features Abby Ryder Fortson as Margret and Rachael McAdams as her mother with Kathy Bates playing her grandmother.
The story appeals mostly to a female audience, both young and old, and has been well-received by both critics and audiences with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 99% and 96% respectively. Even though it opened slightly below industry expectations, a modest budget of $30M will help this film reach profitability as positive word-of-mouth spreads within a demographic group that is not known to rush out on the opening weekend to see an interesting new release.
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 4 took fourth place by adding $5M to its box office total, a drop of only 14% from last weekend. America’s big-screen assassin refuses to retire, and through six weekends it has now earned a franchise-best $176M domestic and $377M worldwide.
Fifth place went to an all-time classic with the Twentieth Century Studios release of the 40th anniversary of STAR WARS VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI. The 2023 re-release of this classic earned $4.8M at 475 theatres. The original opened on May 25, 1983, and was the third film in the initial trilogy of IV, V, and VI that launched George Lucas’ ground-breaking Sci-Fi epic. Episode VI introduced fans to Jabba the Hut, the lovable Ewoks, and one of the most memorable scenes in cinematic history when Darth Vader made the ultimate sacrifice to save his son Luke…and the galaxy.
Sony’s opening of BIG GEORGE FOREMAN finished out of the top ten with an anemic $3.0M. The film follows the remarkable life of the American boxing legend, as his personal and financial struggles force him to return to the ring where he becomes at 45 the oldest heavyweight champion of all time.
The movie was going for broad appeal, as it combines the sports theme with Foreman’s religious journey as a preacher and his entrepreneurship. But the critics aren’t buying it, landing a brutal 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On the other hand, moviegoers seem to love it, with a 97% audience score. Still, the movie still has a long way to go to rise up to match its $38M production cost.
The total for all movies playing in theatres this weekend was $98.2M, compared to $68.5M in the same weekend in 2022. Last year’s top movie was weekend #2 of Universal and DreamWorks’ THE BAD GUYS, which earned $16.2M. In 2019, this weekend saw the record-breaking opening of AVENGERS: ENDGAME which ended the three days with an amazing $357M. On next week’s “WHERE ARE WE” comparison chart, the current year will take a nose dive when compared to 2019, because of the AVENGERS effect.
WHERE ARE WE AS OF 4/27
The strong third-weekend showing of THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE boosted the 2023 box office to a new high compared to prior years. After 16 weeks, 2023 has grossed 138% of the amount earned by this time in 2022, and 86% of the same period from 2019.
