MCS - Smashing second weekend makes 'Mario' 2023's top movie

2023-04-17 17:54:13 ET

The Super Mario Bros. Movie ( NASDAQ: CMCSA ) became 2023's top-grossing movie with a dominating second weekend, holding more business than expected and grossing a hefty $87M.

That brings the animated hit's two-week take to $347.8M, according to Comscore, and with another $330M internationally, its worldwide total rises to $678M.

The movie, based on iconic Nintendo ( OTCPK:NTDOY ) videogame characters, fell off just 41% for its second weekend, uncommon for a big-opening film (which usually shed more than half their business in a follow-up weekend).

It also pulled the best second weekend ever for an animated film, and the seventh-best second weekend of all time, Universal said.

The scramble for a distant second place was won by one of a number of openers: The Pope's Exorcist ( NYSE: SONY ), starring Russell Crowe in the title role, grossed $9.2M over the weekend in a little over 3,000 locations, Comscore noted.

It was enough to get past a tight pack for the next five spots, all drawing some interest from moviegoers. A fourth weekend from John Wick: Chapter 4 ( LGF.A ) ( LGF.B ) drew $7.93M, edging out the debut of Nicolas Cage in Renfield ( CMCSA ), with $7.77M, and the sophomore weekend of Air ( AMZN ), with $7.72M.

Behind them were Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ( PARA ) ( PARAA ), with $7.35M, and another film opener, Suzume ( SONY ), with $5M.

Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment ( NYSE: AMC ); Cineworld ( OTCPK:CNNWQ ); Cinemark ( CNK ); ( IMAX ); Marcus ( MCS ); Reading International ( RDI ); Cineplex ( CGX:CA ); National CineMedia ( NCMI ).

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