It's still Mario Time at the box office. The Super Mario Bros. Movie led ticket sales for the fourth straight weekend in US and Canadian theaters with $40 million as the global haul for the Universal Pictures release surpassed $1 billion, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Nintendo videogame adaptation dominated April in theaters, smashing records along the way. Over the weekend, it faced little new competition, though that will change next week when Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 kicks off the summer movie calendar and is expected to move Mario to the side. Studios spent the past week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas promoting coming blockbusters and promising big returns at the summer box office, the AP reports.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie became the 10th animated film to top $1 billion in worldwide box office, the first since 2019. Second place went to Evil Dead Rise. The horror sequel from Warner Bros. held well in its second week, dipping 50% with $12.2 million. Among the weekend's newcomers, the Judy Blume adaptation Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret fared best. The Lionsgate release grossed $6.8 million in 3,343 locations, a decent start for the $30 million-budgeted coming-of age tale written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig. One of the weekend's biggest successes was a familiar box-office force. The Walt Disney Co.'s rerelease of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi grossed $4.7 million in just 475 theaters. Disney put Jedi (the 1997 special edition version) back into theaters to commemorate the 1983 film's 40th anniversary.
Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie, $40 million.
- Evil Dead Rise, $12.2 million.
- Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, $6.8 million.
- John Wick: Chapter 4, $5 million.
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, $4.7 million.
- Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, $4.1 million.
- Air, $4 million.
- Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two, $3.6 million.
- The Covenant, $3.6 million.
- Sisu, $3.3 million.
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