Mario movie tops box office, ‘Beau is Afraid’ limited release

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” scored the best second weekend ever for an animated movie in North American theaters with $87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The family-friendly Universal release dropped a slim 41% from its record-making opening weekend.

With $94 million from world showings, “Mario’s” international overall now stands at a staggering $678 million, surpassing “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” to change into greatest movie of 2023 in simply two weekends.

“There are not enough adjectives to describe the enormity of this box office performance,” mentioned Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comsore.

For maximum blockbusters, 2d weekends are most often down by means of about 60%, making “Mario’s” 41% drop particularly noteworthy. According to Comscore, just a handful of movies that opened over $100 million have had much less of a fall, together with “Shrek 2,” “Frozen 2,” 2002’s “Spider-Man,” “The Force Awakens” and 2016’s “The Jungle Book.”

“To the casual observer that may not seem like a big deal, but that is an important metric,” Dergarabedian mentioned. “It’s the greatest indicator of audience love for the movie.”

“Mario” confronted little main festival this weekend even with a slew of recent nationwide releases together with “Renfield,” “The Pope’s Exorcist,” “Mafia Mamma” and the animated “Suzume.” It nonetheless has two weekends earlier than “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” flies into theaters to jumpstart the summer time moviegoing season.

Sony and Screen Gem’s R-rated “The Pope’s Exorcist” starring Russell Crowe because the overdue Father Gabriele Amorth — the executive exorcist of the Diocese of Rome from 1986 to his loss of life at 91 in 2016 — fared the most efficient. It made an estimated $9.2 million from 3,178 places.

Third position went to “John Wick: Chapter 4” in its fourth weekend with $7.9 million. The Lionsgate motion percent has now remodeled $160.1 million regionally.

Universal’s “Renfield,” the supernatural mystery starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult because the identify persona, opened in fourth position with $7.8 million.

Some puzzled if opening “Renfield” and “The Pope’s Exorcist” the similar weekend — each R-rated and of an identical genres — harm the flicks. But Dergarabedian mentioned that whilst audiences will have been an identical, “these films play for more than just one weekend.”

Ben Affleck’s Air Jordan starting place tale “Air” rounded out the highest 5, with $7.7 million in its 2d weekend to carry its overall home income to $33.3 million.

Makoto Shinkai’s PG-rated anime “Suzume,” launched regionally by means of Sony with each dubbed and subtitled variations to be had, opened in 2,170 theaters and grossed an estimated $5 million in price tag gross sales.

A24 additionally debuted its new Ari Aster R-rated mind-bender “Beau is Afraid,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, in 4 theaters in New York and Los Angeles the place it made $320,396 over the weekend, boasting many offered out showings. The 3-hour odyssey from the director of horror favorites “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” expands national on Friday.

“Beau’s” just about $81,000 per-screen moderate is as exceptional because the slender “Mario” drop, Dergarabedian mentioned, and is taking part in out in a market with choices for each and every roughly moviegoer.

“It’s one of the most diverse lineups of films I’ve seen on the marquee in years rivaling a streaming service in terms of the depth and breadth of content,” Dergarabedian mentioned.

Estimated price tag gross sales for Friday thru Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, in keeping with Comscore. Final home figures might be launched Monday.

1. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” $87 million.

2. “The Pope’s Exorcist,” $9.2 million.

3. “John Wick: Chapter 4,” $7.9 million.

4. “Renfield,” $7.8 million.

5. “Air,” $7.7 million.

6. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” $7.4 million.

7. “Suzume,” $5 million.

8. “Mafia Mamma,” $2 million.

9. “Scream VI,” $1.5 million.

10. “Nefarious,” $1.3 million.