The Super Mario Bros. Movie Is Now The Biggest Movie Of The Year At The Box Office
© Universal Pictures Super Mario Bros. Silver MovieIt's been a great weekend for new box office releases, with Renfield and The Pope's Exorcist providing plenty of horror to chew on, Suzame finally making its way to North America for anime fans, and Mafia Mom trying (and failing quite a bit) to give us a viable action/comedy. But it's mostly the Super Mario Bros. movie that completely crushed the competition in its second weekend. So much so that after less than two weeks in theaters, it remains the highest-grossing film of 2023.
According to Box Office Mojo, Super Mario Bros. is Ultimate Won. $87 million in its second weekend, down 40.6% for the week. It far exceeded industry expectations and proved to be a real crowd drawr across the globe. The domestic total is now $347.8 million, compared to $330.1 million abroad. Grossing $677.9 million, it surpassed China's Red Tide ($673 million) to become the world's highest-grossing film of 2023. It's already, by far, the biggest video game movie ever and is on track to reach $1 billion worldwide.
Interestingly, Universal and Illumination's Mario is doing pretty well despite grossing less than $12 million in China. As we have seen time and time again since the pandemic, with the exception of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hollywood can no longer count on China. It's the icing on the cake at best when things are going well. In this case, the Nintendo brand is strong enough globally that poor results in China don't matter.
Can other movies top that?
© Universal PicturesSuper Mario Bros. Marco Kart MovieThis is obviously great news for theaters, as several movies this year, including Shazam: Wrath of the Gods and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor of Thieves, fell short of expectations. Speaking of the $150 million budget, "D&D" fell to sixth place this weekend with $7.3 million, and with $157 million worldwide after its third weekend, the movie is dead in the water. No sequelae, no deductible. Yet another reason to celebrate what Mario has achieved. The question is, could a movie released before the end of 2023 top that?
In my opinion, there are only two true contenders who have a chance to win this summer. The first is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, which will be released on May 5. Marvel's dominance at the box office is showing clear signs of waning, particularly with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Solace, which debuted to $474.2 million after a huge opening weekend in February. However, if the critics side with this movie and it succeeds in Spider-Man: No Way Home (it gets a huge audience as the finale of the hit trilogy), it could easily hit a billion dollars. However, there are too many question marks at this point to call this a possible outcome.
Also, we have "Fast X". The 'Fast & Furious' franchise has seen some very strong increases over the years, with Furious 7 grossing $1.51 billion in 2015, it's a little hard to tell how the remake will turn out. But if viewers think of the "this is the beginning of the end" marketing pitch, it's possible that Dom and his demanding family will attend the coronation on May 19.
And the rest...
© A24 Bo is afraid of Joaquin PhoenixElsewhere, Sony's The Pope's Exorcist, starring Russell Crowe, started in second place with $9.1 million, just above expectations. Unfortunately for Universal, there was some bad news this weekend: The new horror/comedy movie Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula, took a beating, earning just $7.7 million and slipping to fourth place. If final numbers are counted, he could finish fifth as Ben Affleck's "Air" snapped on his heels with a strong second weekend. The Pope's Exorcist has a budget of $18 million, while Renfield has a budget of $65 million. Let's call it a big flop.
On the other hand, John Wick: Chapter 4 ranks third with $7.9 million. It now stands at $349.7 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing John Wick film to date. He is expected to end his run with just over $400 million, justifying his $100 million budget. Meanwhile, Mafia Mama Died in the Water on Bleecker Street, starring Toni Collette and Monica Bellucci, launching for $2 million for more than 2,000 screens. Oh. Suzam also suffered a bit, earning $2.8 million at the box office.
Also of note is Ari Astaire Beau's Afraid (read our review here) for $320,000 in just four theaters, one of A24's best debuts in recent memory. The question is, will this bizarre three-hour epic be able to please mainstream audiences in the coming weeks? Looking ahead, we've got a big weekend ahead of The Covenant and Guy Ritchie's Evil Dead Rise. Whether they can defeat Mario and Luigi remains to be seen.
The top 10 movies at the box office for April 14-16, 2023 :
1- Super Mario Brothers movie - $87 million
2. "The Pope's Exorcist" - $9.1 million
3. "John Wick: Chapter 4" - $7.9 million
4. Renfield - $7.77 million
5- "Aerial" - $7.72 million
6. "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves" - $7.3 million
7. Suzuki - $2.83 million
8. Mob Mom - $2.04 million
9. Scream VI - $1.45 million
10 - "The Despicable Me" - $1.33 million
Continue reading: Ranking of Disney's animated science fiction films
