The movie scored the top global launch ever for an animated picture, and the second-best ever domestically.
The picture scored the top opening of all time for animated film with $377 million in worldwide ticket sales. The massive five-day domestic haul is $204.6 million, including $146.4 million for the three-day weekend, while the overseas tally stands at $173 million from 70 markets.
Mario, which creates instant new film franchise, shattered numerous other records, including landing the top opening ever for a movie based on a video game and the top opening of 2023 to date on all fronts after surpassing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantunamia.
The mega-opening wasn’t the only significant note of Easter weekend. Amazon Studios, which is testing giving its movies traditional theatrical release, saw its debut title, Affleck’s adult drama Air open to a better-than-expected $20.2 million for the five days (more on Air later).
Both films opened Wednesday in order to get jump on the spring holidays.
In North America, Super Mario Bros. three-day weekend makes it the second-best start ever for animated title behind Incredibles 2 after passing up Finding Dory.
Globally, it bested the $358 million launch of Frozen II.
The records don’t end there. It landed biggest five-day launch in history after besting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($200 million); is the best-ever opening for Chris Meledandri’s Illumuniation, home of Despicable Me and Minions; and the top opening of 2023 to date.
The comedic adventure romp follows Brooklyn brothers and plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) as they are transported to the magical Mushroom Kingdom world.
Viewers didn’t care about the mixed reviews, and, instead, bestowed the film with an A CinemaScore.
“This is one of the biggest box office over-performances in recent memory and is absolutely shattering pre-release projections,” says Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Mario officially says ‘game over’ to the video game movie adaptation curse.”
Paramount and eOne haven’t had luck with game adaptation Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, despite glowing reviews and an A CinemaScore.
In its second outing, the movie fell 61 percent over the three-day Easter weekend to $14.5 million for domestic cume of $62.2 million. Overseas, it earned $15.5 million from 61 markets for a tepid worldwide total of $124.1 million.
Ben Affleck’s Air
Ben Affleck’s Air grossed just under $14.5 million for the 3-day weekend and $20.2 million for the 5-days, ahead of expectations since adult-skewing titles have struggled in the pandemic era.
The biopic about the early game-changing days of Nike stars, when it was trying to sign a young Michael Jordan, features star-studded cast that includes Matt Damon and Viola Davis.
Air is the first movie from Amazon Studios to receive exclusive theatrical release in thousands of theaters around the world before streaming on Prime Video at later date.
The film boasts glowing reviews and coveted Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 94 percent. It received A CinemaScore from audiences.
The movie, costing $90 million to produce before marketing, is backed Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports and Mandalay Pictures.
It’s also the inaugural project from Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity, which the duo co-founded last year with RedBird Capital.
It is the first time Affleck has directed Damon in one of his movies.
Among holdovers, Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4 also enjoyed milestone weekend as it crossed the $300 million mark globally. Domestically, it grossed an estimated $14.6 million for North American cume of $147.1 million and $304.6 million globally.
Paramount and Spyglass also boasted milestone as Scream VI hit $103.8 million in North America, a franchise record, not adjusted for inflation. Globally, the film has now earned a huge $161.6 million.
MGM’s Creed III, which hit premium VOD last week, cleared the $150 million mark in North America to finish Sunday with domestic cume of $153.3 million and impressive $268 million worldwide.
