It’s-a ‘Mario’ again

Hello! Welcome to The Box Office Report for the weekend of April 21-23, 2023.

1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Weekend gross: $58.2M
Total domestic gross: $434.3M
Last weekend: 1st
Percent drop: -37

Through three weekends in theaters, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is playing the box office on cheat mode. In last Monday’s The Box Office Report, I guessed that Mario would fall by roughly 60 percent this weekend.

Turns out I should’ve been more optimistic.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie dropped just 37 percent his weekend, adding another $58.2 million to its domestic haul. Even bigger? Mario’s worldwide gross of $876.4 million. Yes, The Super Mario Bros. Movie could break the $1 billion worldwide mark between now and next weekend.

It’s hard to overstate how successful Mario is for a movie based on a video game. Previously the top grossing film based on a video game at the domestic box office was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with $190.9 million, and the No. 1 film with that title worldwide was Warcraft with $438.9 million. Mario effortlessly wipes those two records away with its domestic haul of $434.3 million and its worldwide haul of $876.4 million.

2. Evil Dead Rise

Weekend gross: $23.5M
Total domestic gross: $23.5M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA

The first Evil Dead movie to open in a decade opened in line with 2013’s Evil Dead. (Not to be confused with the original film in the franchise, The Evil Dead.) Evil Dead turned its $25.8 million opening weekend into a $99 worldwide gross.

3. Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant

Weekend gross: $6.3M
Total domestic gross: $6.3M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA

Guy Ritchie has delivered some major box office hits over the past few years. The live-action Aladdin remake debuted with $91.5 million. The two Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. opened with $62.3 million and $39.6 million.

The Covenant is not one of those hits. The Jake Gyllenhaal vehicle pulled together just $6.3 million its opening weekend, barely staying ahead of John Wick: Chapter 4, Air and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

4. John Wick: Chapter 4

Weekend gross: $5.7M
Total domestic gross: $168.8M
Last weekend: 3rd
Percent drop: -29

Speaking of John Wick: Chapter 4, the film is less than $3 million away from passing John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum to claim the title of top grossing John Wick film at the domestic box office.

5. Air

Weekend gross: $5.5M
Total domestic gross: $41.8M
Last weekend: 5th
Percent drop: -29

I’m not giving up on my idea of a prestige legacy sequel to Air Bud called Air. We’d probably have to ignore those direct-to-DVD sequels where the puppies talked, but imagine Air Bud having to come out of retirement to win one final basketball game.

Box office numbers via The Numbers based on Sunday estimates.

Next weekend

Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret is next weekend’s big release. While the buzz around that adaption seems positive, I don’t see it beating The Super Mario. Bros Movie. And after that, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters, keeping Chris Pratt at the top of the box office.