Box Office Recap: April 28-30, 2023
Super Mario Bros. wins fourth straight weekend at the box office, crosses the one billion dollar plateau.
Once again, this past weekend brought no surprises at the box office. The Super Mario Bros. Movie remained at #1 for almost a full month now, bringing in $40 million over its fourth weekend, an amount many films would give anything to have for their opening weekend, let alone an entire month out. More importantly, the animated blockbuster has now entered the billion dollar club, becoming the 49th film to do so. Elsewhere on the milestone front, John Wick: Chapter 4 finally became the franchise’s highest domestic earner, while also passing the $400 million mark. For the new releases, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. opened within inches of reaching its expectations of $7-9 million, while other debuts such as Big George Foreman and Polite Society opened quietly.
First place, of course, goes to Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned $40.0 million domestically over its fourth weekend in release. This marks another impressively light drop of just -33.3% from its prior weekend frame, and after a month in release, is still close to average $10k per theater with a per-theater average of $9,514 at 4,204 locations. So far, the animated adventure film, which is based on the hit Nintendo video game, has earned $490.0 million domestically. On the international side of things, the film has made over a half billion with $532.5 million, and with that, The Super Mario Bros. Movie has now become the first film of 2023 to surpass the one billion mark worldwide with $1.022 billion.
With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 set to open this upcoming weekend, it’s more than likely that The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s reign of #1 at the box office will end at four straight weekends. Even so, job will done, Mario & Luigi.
Finishing in the runner-up position for the second straight weekend, Warner Bros.’s Evil Dead Rise earned $12.2 million domestically, pushing its domestic run now to $44.4 million. This marks a -50.2% drops from its debut weekend frame, earning a per-theater average of $3,570 at 3,417 locations. Internationally, the horror sequel from the iconic Evil Dead series has brought in $17.9 million for a global cume of $62.3 million against a reported production budget of $19 million.
Coming in third place, Lionsgate’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. opened in 3,343 theaters and grossed $6.8 million domestically, earning a per-theater average of $2,034. Both critics and audiences gave high praise to the coming-of-age dramedy, which is based on Judy Blume’s 1970 best-selling young adult novel, with the latter giving the film a near perfect “A” CinemaScore. Strong word of mouth could give the film steady legs in order to catch up to its reported $30 million production budget. That could very likely be a bit too much distance for just the domestic performance to reach alone; however, it should be noted that, as of now, its international earnings have not yet been posted.
In fourth place, Lionsgate’s hit action sequel John Wick: Chapter 4 received an impressively small drop of -14.4% from its prior weekend and grossed $5.0 million domestically. This pushes its domestic total now to $176.2 million, making it the franchise’s highest domestic earner. Internationally, the Keanu Reeves actioner has performed equally well with $226.0 million, moving its total worldwide performance past the $400 million mark with $402.2 million against a reported production budget of $100 million.
Rounding out the top five, Disney’s 40th anniversary re-release of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi earned $4.7 million domestically. While at first glance, it might not seem like much, the re-release only opened in 475 locations, earning an impressive per-theater average of $9,882. Counting the original 1983 release of George Lucas’s space opera classic and all subsequent re-releases since then, Return of the Jedi has grossed $479.7 million worldwide.
Rounding out the top ten, Lionsgate’s Finnish action film Sisu opened with $3.3 million domestically, earning a per-theater average of $3,230 at 1,006 locations. The film received strong praise from critics and while no CinemaScore has been posted as of yet, audiences polled on PostTrak gave the film an 80% positive score, with 60% of those polled saying they would recommend the movie. Internationally, the film has brought in an additional $2.2 million to push its worldwide debut to $5.5 million.
Outside the top ten, in eleventh place, Sony’s Big George Foreman, starring Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker and Khris Davis as the eponymous legendary boxer, opened with $3.0 million domestically. The boxing biopic opened in 3,054 locations, earning a per-theater average of $982. While critical reception was mixed, audiences did give a high “A-” CinemaScore, which could lead to positive word of mouth; however, it still has a long way to go before even just matching its reported production budget of $32 million.
And lastly, in fifteenth place, Focus Features’s Polite Society opened with $800.0k domestically. The action dramedy debuted in 927 locations and earned a per-theater average of $862.
Opening this weekend, Marvel Studios will debut the next entry of their Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper.
* Total worldwide gross listed in parenthesis.
1) The Super Mario Bros. Movie – $40.0 million, Week 4 ($1.022 billion)
2) Evil Dead Rise – $12.2 million, Week 2 ($62.3 million)
3) Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. – $6.8 million, Week 1 ($6.8 million)
4) John Wick: Chapter 4 – $5.0 million, Week 6 ($402.2 million)
5) Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi – $4.7 million, Week 1 ($4.7 million)
6) Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – $4.1 million, Week 5 ($194.2 million)
7) Air – $4.0 million, Week 4 ($74.7 million)
8) Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two – $3.8 million, Week 1 ($3.8 million)
9) Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant – $3.6 million, Week 2 ($12.4 million)
10) Sisu – $3.3 million, Week 1 ($3.3 million)
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