Movie

The animated movie adaptation of Nintendo's video game amasses over $600 million globally, as newcomers 'The Pope's Exorcist' and 'Renfield' barely scare the family friendly movie domestically.

• Apr 17, 2023

AceShowbiz - "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" scored big again in its second weekend. The CGI animated adventure film has posted the best second weekend ever for an animated movie in North American theaters with $87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates on Sunday, April 16.

The family-friendly film dropped just 41% from its record-breaking opening weekend. It has so far amassed $347.8 million domestically and $330.1 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $677.9 million. It already surpassed "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" to become the biggest film of 2023 in just two weekends.

"There are not enough adjectives to describe the enormity of this box office performance," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, of Universal Pictures' adaptation of Nintendo's video game franchise.

For most blockbusters, it's not unusual if they drop by about 60% in second weekends, which made the smaller "Mario" drop noteworthy. "It's the greatest indicator of audience love for the movie," Dergarabedian adds.

"Super Mario" is unchallenged at the first place domestically as it faces very little competition from newcomers, such as "The Pope's Exorcist" and "Renfield". The Russell Crowe-starring supernatural horror film debuts at No. 2 with just an estimated $9.2 million. It made $27.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $36.6 million.

"Renfield", a comedy horror film starring Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula, barely shows its fangs as it only made approximately $7.8 million in its first weekend. It trails behind "John Wick: Chapter 4", which drops one place to No. 3 with an estimated $7.9 million.

Rounding out the top five this week is "Air", a Ben Affleck-directed movie which stars Matt Damon. The movie about the origins of Nike's Air Jordan $7.7 million grossed approximately $7.7 million in its second weekend.

Top 10 of North America Box Office (Apr. 14-16, 2023):

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. "Mafia Mamma" - $2 million
8. "Scream VI" - $1.4 million
9. "Nefarious" - $1.3 million
10. "His Only Son" - $518,971