It's a-hit, Mario! The Super Mario Bros. Movie scores $205M opening
We all know plumbers make a ton of money, but Mario and Luigi just took it to another level.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie made a splash at this weekend's box office, and gold coins went all over the place. After earning $31.7 million on its opening day on Wednesday, the film racked up an estimated five-day total through Sunday of $204.6 million, according to Comscore.
Internationally, the Brothers Super Mario grossed an additional $172.8 million, bringing the film's worldwide total to $377.5 million. That raccoon-suited debut flew right by Frozen 2 to become the biggest worldwide opening for an animated film ever.
Nintendo; Illumination Entertainment/ Universal Pictures Super Mario Bros. Movie nabs $205mil box office opening
Starring Chris Pratt as the popular character first introduced in 1981's Donky Kong, The Super Mario Bros. Movie appealed to fans of the Nintendo game series, which is still going strong and smashing bros.
When twin brothers Mario and Luigi (Charlie Day) are transported from Brooklyn to another realm, Mario finds himself up against the evil warlord Bowser (Jack Black), whose soldiers have kidnapped Luigi. Mario joins forces with Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her resistance movement as they try to resist Bowser's attack on her Mushroom Kingdom.
Nintendo/ Illumination/ Universal Pictures Jack Black voices Bowser in 'The Super Mario Bros. Movie.'
Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the film didn't score that well with critics, but audiences sure loved it — Super Mario Bros. currently sits at a 96% fresh audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to 56% with critics.
Last weekend's top movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, dove to No. 3, behind John Wick: Chapter 4, earning $14.5 million for a two-week domestic cume of $62.3 million ($124 million worldwide). Meanwhile, the fourth and maybe-not-so-final chapter in the John Wick franchise came in just ahead with $14.6 million, bringing its three-week domestic total to $147 million ($306 million worldwide).
Loved by critics and audiences alike, director and star Ben Affleck's Air, which also opened Wednesday, debuted at No. 4 — which Michael Jordan will take personally — with a solid $20.2 million over five days. Internationally, it took in another $16.2 million, for a worldwide cume of $36.4 million.
Alex G. Harper for EW (Clockwise from top left) 'Air' stars Chris Tucker, Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans, Ben Affleck, and Jason Bateman
With an all-star cast including Affleck, BFF Matt Damon, EGOT Viola Davis, Marlon Wayans, Chris Tucker, Chris Messina, and Jason Bateman, Air dramatizes the creation of the game-changing and culture-defining Air Jordan brand.
Rounding out the top five, Scream VI scared up $3.3 million in its fifth week of release, for a domestic total of $103.8 million ($161.6 million worldwide).
And debuting at No. 9 with $750,000 at just 819 theaters is Owen Wilson and his happy little wig in Paint, a comedy about local Vermont public television treasure Carl Nagle (Wilson) who's pitted against a new painter hired to shake up the network.
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