Box Office Recap: April 7-9, 2023
Super Mario Bros. receives a super #1 box office opening over Easter weekend.
Cue the victory music for Nintendo’s little, eponymous Italian plumber hero, as everyone and their brother went out to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie… and nothing else, apparently. The animated video game adaptation scored a massive $200+ million five-day Easter weekend domestic opening. Meanwhile, Ben Affleck’s new directorial effort, Air, was given a similar five-day weekend by Amazon Studios and earned a $20 million opening, and Owen Wilson’s new comedy Paint opened and finished quietly with a small debut of under a million.
Team Mario and Luigi reached the finish line first and it wasn’t even close. Universal’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie pulled in a three-day domestic run of $146.4 million and ultimately totaled $204.6 million over its actual extended five-day run, which began Wednesday, April 5. This shatters the film’s initial pre-release estimates of $125 million and obliterates the box office record for a video game adaptation previously held by last year’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($72.1 million). The animated flick, which is based on the iconic Nintendo video game character, opened in 4,343 locations and earned a staggering per-theater average of $33,700. Internationally, the film earned $173.0 million for a global cume of $377.6 million against a reported production budget of $100 million.
It’ll be interesting to see how much of a drop The Super Mario Bros. Movie receives over its sophomore run. Smart money says it’ll still win the box office for a second straight week, considering there are three wide releases opening and they’re all R-rated. Still, don’t be surprised if this film receives over a 60% drop, as it’s normal for films with gargantuan openings to drop big over the second weekend. I mentioned this before in a previous Box Office Recap, but 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home opened huge with $260.1 million, and then dropped -67.5% over its sophomore frame. This, of course, is no cause for concern ’cause a -67.5% drop from $260.1 million is still a whole lot of money. All this means is that everyone that wanted to see the film went out to see it opening day, and given its near-perfect “A” CinemaScore from opening weekend viewers, smart money also says repeat viewings are expected.
Plus, the film has already nearly quadrupled its production budget in just its opening weekend. So, even if a 60-70% drop occurs, no one’s panicking at Universal.
Remaining in the runner-up spot, Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4 took in $14.6 million over its third weekend in release, moving its total domestic performance to $147.1 million. This marks a -48.5% drop from its prior frame, earning $4,047 at 3,607 locations. Internationally, the fourth film of the hit John Wick franchise brought in an additional $122.0 million to help push its worldwide total to $269.1 million against a reported production budget of $100 million.
Finishing in third, Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves dropped -61.0% over its second weekend in release, finishing with a sophomore frame of $14.5 million domestically. This pushes its total domestic run to $62.3 million, earning a per-theater average of $3,760 at 3,856 locations. Overseas, the fantasy action comedy nearly matched its domestic total with $61.8 million for a worldwide cume of $124.1 million, just roughly $25 million away from matching its hefty price tag of $150 million. That said, factoring in the additional costs films on average have, Honor Among Thieves needs to make, conservatively speaking, an estimated $300 million just to break even. Even with the competition leveling off slightly for the remainder of April, with it already dropping -60% in just its second weekend – following a $40 million debut that, while #1, still wasn’t a huge opening – the signs aren’t looking good for its overall lifetime run.
Perhaps that’s to be expected, though, when your opening is sandwiched in between John Wick: Chapter 4 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Let’s be honest, everyone not named The Super Mario Bros. Movie took a hit at the box office thanks to that film’s monster opening, so with that out of the way now, we’ll have to see how Honor Among Thieves fares over its third weekend. Of course, it’s crazy to assume it’s gonna bounce back +60.0%, but it still could maintain steady legs from this point on for the remainder of its run.
In fourth place, Amazon Studios’s Air opened with $14.5 million domestically over the three-day weekend and totaled $20.2 million over its actual extended five-day run, which, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, also began Wednesday, April 5. The film, which stars Oscar winners Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Viola Davis, opened in 3,507 locations, earning a per-theater average of $4,125. Both critics and audiences were unanimous in their praise for the Affleck directed biographical sports drama, with audiences giving it a near-perfect “A” CinemaScore. Still, the film has quite a ways to go before it recoups its reported production budget ranging between $70-90 million; however, it should also be noted that the film’s international earnings have yet to be accounted for.
Rounding out the top five, Paramount’s Scream VI finished with $3.3 million domestically over its third weekend in release, which pushes its total domestic run past the $100 million milestone with $103.8 million. Internationally, the slasher horror sequel added $57.8 million for a global cume that currently stands at $161.6 million against a reported production budget of $35 million. This now places it just a fraction of an inch away from passing Scream 3 ($161.8 million) for third place on the franchise’s lifetime gross rankings, and is just slightly under $12 million away from surpassing 1996’s Scream ($173.0 million) for the franchise’s all-time best earner.
Elsewhere within the top ten, in ninth place, IFC Films’s Paint, starring Owen Wilson, debuted with $750.0k domestically, opening in 819 locations and earning a per-theater average of $915.
Opening this weekend, Universal Pictures will debut their horror comedy Renfield starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as his eponymous long-suffering servant; and Sony releases their supernatural horror film The Pope’s Exorcist starring Academy Award winner Russell Crowe.
* Total worldwide gross listed in parenthesis.
1) The Super Mario Bros. Movie – $146.4 million, Week 1 ($377.6 million)
2) John Wick: Chapter 4 – $14.6 million, Week 3 ($269.1 million)
3) Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – $14.5 million, Week 2 ($124.1 million)
4) Air – $14.4 million, Week 1 ($20.2 million)
5) Scream VI – $3.3 million, Week 5 ($161.6 million)
6) His Only Son – $3.2 million, Week 2 ($11.0 million)
7) Creed III – $2.8 million, Week 6 ($269.5 million)
8) Shazam! Fury of the Gods – $1.6 million, Week 4 ($123.0 million)
9) Paint – $750.0k, Week 1 ($750.0k)
10) A Thousand and One – $600.0k, Week 2 ($3.0 million)
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