Talk about next level business.
Enlightenment and Universal’s Nintendo video game adaptation The Super Mario Bros. movie exceeded all expectations and broke numerous records in its box office debut over the Easter long holiday weekend. The picture scored the all-time best opening for an animated feature with $377 million in worldwide ticket sales, including a massive five-day domestic draw of $205.6 million and $146.4 million of that for the three-day weekend. It shattered numerous other records, including the best-ever opening for a movie based on a video game.
The Secret Sauce – The PG picture appeals to families and the general public alike, reflecting the multi-generational appeal of the wildly popular game. On the general public side, a whopping 60 percent of ticket buyers were between the ages of 18 and 34.
The mega opening was not the only important note of the Easter weekend. Amazon Studios, which is testing to give its films a traditional theatrical release, saw its debut title, Ben Affleck’s adult drama Skyopen to a better-than-expected $20.2 million for the five days (more on Sky later on). Both movies opened Wednesday to jump-start Spring Break.
In North America, Super Mario Bros.three-day weekend makes it the second-best start ever for an animated title behind Incredible 2 after passing find dory. And globally, it beat the $358 million launch Frozen II.
The records don’t end there. It landed after beating the largest five-day launch in history Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($200 million); is the best opening ever for Chris Meledandri’s Illumuniation, home of Despicable Me And minions; and the best opening of 2023 so far.
Crowds spewing out for the comedic adventure romp about Brooklyn brothers and plumbers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) as they get transported to the magical Mushroom Kingdom world and soon part ways didn’t seem to care about mediocre reviews . Instead, they gave the film an A CinemaScore from the audience.
“This is one of the biggest box office over-performances in recent memory and absolutely shatters all pre-release projections,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Mario officially says ‘game over’ to the curse of the video game movie adaptation.”
To date, the only other major success story among video game adaptations has been that of Paramount Sonic the Hedgehog series. As for openings, Sonic The Hedgehog2 was the previous crown holder with a $72 million debut.
Paramount and eOne haven’t had much luck adapting table games Dungeons & Dragons: honor among thieves, despite rave reviews and an A CinemaScore. On its second appearance, the film dropped 61 percent over the three-day Easter weekend to $14.5 million for a domestic take of $62.2 million.
Ben Afflecks Sky grossed just under $14.5 million for the three-day weekend and $20.2 million for the five-day, more than expected given that lopsided adult titles have struggled in the pandemic era.
The biographical drama about the early game-changing days of Nike stars as it attempted to sign a young Michael Jordan features a star-studded cast that includes Matt Damon and Viola Davis.
Sky is historic as it is Amazon Studios’ first film to be theatrically released exclusively in thousands of cinemas around the world before streaming on Prime Video at a date yet to be determined. The film boasts critical acclaim and a coveted Rotten Tomatoes review score of 94 percent. And it got an A CinemaScore from the audience.
The film, which costs $90 million to produce before marketing, is backed by Amazon Studios, Skydance Sports and Mandalay Pictures. It is also the inaugural project of Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity, which the duo co-founded with RedBird Capital last year, and marks Affleck’s first time directing Damon in one of his films.
Sky will also open in numerous overseas markets, where Warner Bros. International handles the distribution tasks.
Among the remains, Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4 also had a milestone weekend as it crossed the $300 million mark worldwide. Domestically, it grossed an estimated $14.6 million for a North American sum of $147.1 million and $304.6 million worldwide.
Paramount and Spyglass also had a milestone like Scream VI reached $103.8 million in North America, a franchise record, unadjusted for inflation.
MGMs Creed IIIwhich reached premium VOD last week, passed the $150 million mark in North America to close Sunday with a domestic cume of $153.3 million.
More to come.
