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It’s still Mario time at the box office.
The “Super Mario Bros. Movie” led the pack with $40 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters for the fourth straight weekend, as Universal’s release topped $1 billion worldwide, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Nintendo’s video game adaptations dominated theaters in April, breaking records along the way. It faced little new competition over the weekend, though that will change next week when Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” kicks off the summer movie calendar and hopefully moves Mario aside. The studio promoted new blockbusters last week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, promising big returns at the summer box office.
“Super Mario Bros. The Movie” easily topped $1 billion at the worldwide box office on Sunday, becoming the 10th animated film to hit the milestone and the first since 2019, according to estimates. With a domestic total of $490 million to date, the international box office is even stronger. Over the weekend, the illuminating animation took in $68.3 million overseas, bringing its international tally to $532.5 million.
The second place is “Evil Dead Rise”. Warner Bros.’ horror sequels performed well in their second week, with horror films in particular falling 50% to $12.2 million.
Among the weekend’s newcomers, Judy Bloom’s adaptation of “Is God There? It’s Me, Margaret” performed best. Lionsgate took in $6.8 million from 3,343 locations for the $30 million-budget adult film written and directed by Kelly Freemont Craig (“Edge of Seventeen”). Good start to the story.
Unsurprisingly, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” the story of an 11-year-old girl (Abby Ryder Fortson) going through puberty, attracted an overwhelmingly female audience. With stellar reviews (99% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and stellar audience ratings (an “A” from CinemaScore), “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” should be a hit this Mother’s Day.
Lionsgate also released Finnish action film Sisu in 1,006 locations. The film, about a prospector (Jorma Tommila) whose gold is stolen by the Nazis, grossed an estimated $3.3 million. This is a solid achievement for a rare international film to be released nationwide. Writer-director Jalmari Helander’s film received critical acclaim (93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).
“Sisu” manages to top the weekend’s top heavyweight new release: “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World.” Produced by Sony’s Christian production company, Affirm Films, the film puts a faith-based twist on the sports biopic. But after being hit by poor reviews, it wasn’t a big hit, taking in $3 million from 3,054 theaters.
Nida Manzoor’s “Polite Society,” about an Anglo-Pakistani high school student (Priya Kansara) who dreams of becoming a stuntman, grossed 800,000 at 927 theaters $ box office premiere. One of the standouts at January’s Sundance Film Festival, the Focus Features film blends kung fu with Jane Austen in the story of sisters in London.
One of the biggest successes of the weekend was a familiar box office force. The Walt Disney Co. re-release of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” took in $4.7 million from just 475 theaters. Disney is re-screening “Jedi Knight” (1997 special edition) to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1983 film’s release.
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