The animated success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie is getting close to $1 billion after just 18 days in cinemas.
It continued to rake in the box office this weekend, taking first place for the third weekend running. Nothing could top Universal Pictures' The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned $58.2 million in its third weekend.
In fact, over $14 million was made on Friday alone, April 21, as reported by IMDB's Box Office Mojo.
#1 Spot at the Box Office
As far as animated films go, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is blazing a trail.
According to AP News, it has grossed $434.3 million in the US and $871.1 million worldwide through Sunday, April 23, making it the best-grossing animated film of the pandemic period. It is also the second-fastest animated picture to achieve that milestone behind The Incredibles 2, according to Deadline.
After Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, and Avatar: The Way of Water, this Super Mario movie will become just the fourth film in the modern age to gross over $1 billion globally.
Spring blockbusters like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and John Wick: Chapter 4 ($168.9 million domestically in five weeks of release) have given the movie theater industry reason to celebrate as it gathers in Las Vegas for CinemaCon on Monday, April 24.
The New York Post believes Hollywood is hoping to return to pre-pandemic box office levels, and studios are starting with Sony Pictures on Monday to promote their summer blockbusters.
'Evil Dead Rise' at #2, 'The Covenant' at #3
The fifth episode of the Evil Dead supernatural horror film series, Evil Dead Rise, opened in second place with $10.3 million.
Studio projections put Evil Dead Rise's opening weekend gross at $23.5 million, making it the weekend's highest-grossing new movie. In a separate report, The New York Post referred to the movie as "gory-as-hell."
Warner Bros. and New Line's Evil Dead Rise is the fifth entry and the first in a decade in the horror series established by Sam Raimi's ultra-low-budget blockbuster Evil Dead from 1981.
A release of Evil Dead Rise, which reportedly cost $17 million to make, was originally planned for HBO Max. However, Warner Bros. felt that movies released directly to streaming services would not make enough money.
With $2.25 million, The Covenant, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier in the Afghan army and Danish actor Dar Salim as his Afghani interpreter, took third place. Though the MGM release only has an "A" CinemaScore from audiences, it has received largely positive reviews online, such as 81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Beau Is Afraid, directed by Ari Aster, deserves a special mention as the most costly film ever produced by A24's specialty division. It just went from a limited release in four theaters to a near-wide distribution in 926.
Despite receiving fewer positive reviews than his previous two films (Hereditary and Midsommar), Aster was able to earn $2.7 million with his three-hour epic.
