Weekend Box Office: ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Hits $1 Billion, Is No. 1 For 4 Weeks

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s still Mario Time at the box office.

‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ topped ticket sales for the fourth straight weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters with $40 million, as worldwide haul for the Universal Pictures release topped $1 billion. dollars, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The Nintendo video game adaptation dominated April in theaters, breaking records along the way. Over the weekend he faced little new competition, although that will change next week when ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3″ kicks off the summer movie schedule and should move Mario to the side. The studios spent the last week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas promoting upcoming blockbusters and promising big summer box office returns.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was estimated to easily cross $1 billion at the global box office on Sunday, making it the 10th animated film to reach the milestone and the first since 2019. With a domestic total at so far 490 million, international sales are even stronger. Illumination’s animated release grossed $68.3 million overseas over the weekend, bringing its international haul to $532.5 million.

Second place went to “Evil Dead Rise”. The horror sequel from Warner Bros. held up well in its second week, especially for a horror movie, plunging 50% to $12.2 million.

Among the novelties of the weekend, the adaptation of Judy Blume “Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret” comes out on top. The Lionsgate release grossed $6.8 million from 3,343 locations, a strong debut for the $30 million budget coming-of-age tale written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig (“The Edge of Seventeen “).

As expected, “Are you there God?” It’s me, Margaret,” about an 11-year-old teenager (Abby Ryder Fortson) going through puberty, drew overwhelming female audiences. With stellar reviews (99% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and solid viewership scores (an “A” CinemaScore), “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret,” should play well on Mother’s Day.

Lionsgate also released the Finnish action movie “Sisu” in 1,006 locations. The film, about a prospector (Jorma Tommila) whose gold is stolen by the Nazis, grossed around $3.3 million. It was a solid result for the rare international film to receive a domestic opening. Reviews have been good (93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) for writer-director Jalmari Helander’s film.

“Sisu” managed to top the weekend’s heaviest new release: “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Former and Future World Heavyweight Champion.” The film, from Christian production company Sony Affirm Films, puts a religious spin on the sports biopic. But after being rocked by poor reviews, it didn’t hit very hard, grossing $3 million from 3,054 theaters.

Nida Manzoor’s “Polite Society,” about a British-Pakistani high school girl (Priya Kansara) dreaming of becoming a stuntwoman, debuted with $800,000 in 927 theaters. The Focus Features film, one of the stars of the Sundance film festival in January, mixes kung fu with Jane Austen in a story about London sisters.

One of the biggest hits of the weekend was a familiar force at the box office. The Walt Disney Co.’s re-release of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” grossed $4.7 million from just 475 theaters. Disney has returned “Jedi” (the 1997 Special Edition) to theaters to commemorate the 1983 film’s 40th anniversary.

Estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final national figures will be released on Monday.

1. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” $40 million.

2. ‘Evil Dead Rise’, $12.2 million.

3. “Are you there, God?” It’s me, Margaret,” $6.8 million.

4. ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’, $5 million.

5. “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” $4.7 million.

6. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Thieves,” $4.1 million.

7. “Aerial”, 4 million dollars.

8. “Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two,” $3.6 million.

9. “The Covenant,” $3.6 million.

10. “Sisu”, $3.3 million.