Box office: ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ sets new records, dominating Easter weekend with $205 million

Edward Douglas
Updated ·5 min read
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Easter hasn’t always been a great time to release movies, compared to March when the advent of spring break for many schools has made it an ideal spot for studios to release their family films, outside the usual summer and holiday school breaks. But that’s no longer the case thanks to the various box office records set this weekend by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”

In some ways, Universal was the first studio to really capitalize on the Easter weekend by releasing “Furious 7” there in early April 2015; its follow-up “The Fate of the Furious” also did very well there two years later. That was probably why Universal scheduled Illumination and Nintendo’s “The Super Mario Bros.” to be released into 4,343 theaters on the Wednesday before the weekend, something that really paid off. So far, it has grossed $204.6 million in just its first five days, putting it just ahead of 2009’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” for the biggest five-day opening ever.

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The movie came into the weekend with mixed reviews, but with general interest from a wide range of audiences. After making $31.7 million on Wednesday and another $26.6 million on Thursday, “Mario Bros.” began its weekend with $54.8 million on Good Friday, then continued to do big business over the weekend for a three-day opening of $146.4 million. That’s the third-biggest Easter opening behind “Batman v Superman” ($166 million) and “Furious 7” ($147.2 million), as well as the biggest opening for 2023 so far.

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Audiences seemed to like it more than critics, giving it an “A” CinemaScore, and the movie also opened in 70 overseas markets, where it brought in an estimated $172.8 million in its international opening. That $377 million global opening is the biggest ever for an animated movie, with Mexico, the UK and Ireland, Germany and China all having significant openings overseas.

The rest of the top five was a bit of a mess based on Sunday estimates, since the next three movies were estimated to make less than a million between them. Fortunately, with actual box office reported on Monday, things became clearer.

“John Wick: Chapter 4,” starring Keanu Reeves, took second place with $14.47 million (down 49%), bringing its total to $147 million. It still has a ways to go before catching up to “Chapter 3,” at least domestically.

Ben Affleck’s sneaker drama “Air,” about Nike trying to convince a young Michael Jordan to endorse their shoes, came into the weekend with much better reviews than “Mario” at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes with stars Matt Damon and Viola Davis getting accolades out of the movie’s SXSW Film Festival debut. After opening with $3.3 million on Wednesday with another $2.4 million on Thursday – $5.7 million in its first two days – it brought in another $14.45 million over the three-day weekend and $20.2 million in its first five days, which is fantastic for Amazon Studios who released the movie into 3,507 through its partnership with MGM. Affleck’s movie also received an “A” CinemaScore, pointing to solid legs during the slower month of April.

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Paramount’s “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” crashed from first place down to fourth with an estimated $13.9 million, down 63% from its opening weekend. As of now, that would put it just under $62 million, which might not be enough to green-light a sequel, despite how well the movie has been received.

Last week, “Scream VI” crossed the $100 million mark, and over the weekend, it became the highest-grossing movie in the entire “Scream” franchise (not accounting for inflation) by adding another $3.4 million (down 38%) to bring its total to $103.8 million.

Angel Studios’ biblical epic “His Only Son” was right behind it in sixth place with $3.25 million for sixth place with $11 million grossed so far, although it’s close enough between those two, it could end up in fifth place.

Michael B. Jordan’s “Creed III” made another $2.8 million to take seventh place, probably the only sure thing after “Mario Bros.” taking first place. It has grossed $153.3 million so far domestically.

IFC Films released the indie dramedy “Paint,” starring Owen Wilson, into 819 theaters, but with mostly negative reviews, it tanked with just $750,000, or $915 per theater.

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NEON released the thriller “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” into 12 theaters where it made $120,500, or $10,000 per theater, while the Pakistani Oscar selection, “Joyland,” was able to make $21,142 in its single New York theater. Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up,” starring recent Oscar nominees Michelle Williams and Hong Chau, made roughly $67,000 in four New York and L.A. theaters, averaging $16,733.

This was already going to be a tough week for Gold Derby’s box office prediction game, even though most players knew that “Mario Bros.” would win the weekend. Only 37 players predicted the animated hit would make between $100 to 150 million over the three-day weekend, though, and a majority predicted “Dungeons & Dragons” would hold in second place, which did not happen. (Only four players had it dropping to fourth place, too.) Instead, “Air” opened in third place place with just 18 players picking it to do so, while 38 players had “John Wick” remaining in second place.  Player predictions for fifth place were split between four movies, but those that picked “Scream VI” will win those points.

Only four players went five for six in the March 31 game, none of them having “Shazam!” in fourth place, but “MonStar” correctly put “His Only Son” in third place with their Super Bet giving them the most points.

On Friday, four new wide releases will hit theaters including Universal’s horror-comedy “Renfield,” starring Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage (as Dracula); Russell Crowe plays “The Pope’s Exorcist”; “Suzume,” the latest anime movie from Makoto Shinkai (“Your Name.”); and more. Check back on Wednesday for our weekend preview.

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