Illumination’s animated film grossed $1 billion worldwide, while “The Eight Mountains” provided a rare specialty light spot.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” (Universal) is set to gross an additional $40 million in its fourth weekend, an accomplishment only seen in “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Avatar: The Way of Water and “Black Panther” in 2018.
That puts Illumination’s animated film at $1.022 billion worldwide and $490 million domestically. If it reaches $650 million domestically – now possible – it will top any cartoon in this century. (“Shrek 2” and “Incredibles 2” reached $600 million adjusted).
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (Disney) opening next weekend will end Mario’s #1 streak, but “SMB” should remain strong for weeks to come. It could top “Maverick” ($719 million) – an even more impressive feat when it lacks a concentration of premium tickets and sells far more discount tickets for kids.
![Lily Sullivan in "Evil Dead Rise"](https://fiilmi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Box-office-Super-Mario-Bros-Evil-Dead-Rise-Thrive-Judy.png)
“Evil Dead Rise”
Although at a lower gross price and sustain, “Evil Dead Rise” (Warner Bros. Discovery) at No. 2 with $12.5 million adds to the positive news. Its 50% drop in the second week was low end for a genre film. Best of all, his $44.6 million take (it’ll easily top $60 million) comes from a reported budget of less than $20 million.
The weekend box office totaled around $99 million, but the two main entrants disappointed. “Are you there, my God? This Is Margaret” (Lionsgate) managed just $6.8 million despite rave reviews, residual interest in classic Judy Blume novels, and an A Cinemascore.
Why this weakness? 81% of the audience was female, 81% was over 25, and 77% was white. Those kinds of numbers make it hard to come close to $10 million. This economical $30 million production is the kind of title that needs to work for a healthy theater industry.
“Big George Foreman” failed to crack the top 10 with just $3 million. It looked like a winner: Produced by Affirm Films, a faith-based production unit with a solid track record of big returns for a lower investment, it benefited from the Foreman name. It was sports-related like the recent hits “Creed III” and “Air,” and Sony generally sees positive results with the original titles. It seems to be Affirm’s most expensive title (over $30 million reported), and for once its formula of fusing religious themes into mainstream releases has failed.
Three films with more limited releases opened in the top 1o. A premium re-release of “Return of the Jedi” (Disney) placed fifth with $4.7 million from just 475 theaters. That puts the third title in the original “Star Wars” trilogy at an adjusted total of around $865 million.
![Sisu](https://fiilmi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Box-office-Super-Mario-Bros-Evil-Dead-Rise-Thrive-Judy.jpeg)
“Sisu”
“Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two” (FDN), an expensive Indian sequel, ranked No. 8 with more than $3.6 million from 600 theaters. “Sisu,” a Finnish World War II film picked up by Lionsgate after its screening at the Toronto festival, grossed $3.25 million from 1,006 theaters.
Despite two strong titles at the top, three other titles maintained declines below 30%, led by No. 4 “John Wick: Chapter 4” (Lionsgate), down 14%. “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” (Paramount), down 25%, and “Air” (MGM), down 27%, also continue to show strength.
Overall activity continues its strong comparisons to last year and 2019. Fats were up 46% over last year, with a 37% improvement year-to-date. It’s a great four months into 2023, but don’t expect that pace to continue. (Last year took off in May). Despite a horrible 24% comparison to the same weekend in 2019 (“Avengers: Endgame” debuted), the four-week rolling average is still at 102%.
“The Eight Mountains” (Sideshow/Janus) was a bright spot in a rather dark specialized environment. The Italian co-winner of the Cannes Jury Prize made $36,000 at two New York theaters for the distributor’s best per-theater opening to date (ahead of “Drive My Car” and “EO”).
Equally acclaimed “RMN” (IFC), another title from the Cannes competition last year, had a completely different result. It only grossed $5,800 at two New York locations. Oliver Stone’s documentary “Nuclear Now” (Abramorama) at two New York/Los Angeles theaters did better (just under $10,000 at two theaters) ahead of a one-day national screening in 300 theaters on Monday.
Both films are post-Oscars; neither was submitted by their countries in the antiquated category of the International Oscars. The awards focus has been on some modest subtitled hits like “EO” and “Close” (Neon).
![A teenage girl in bright green Pakistani evening dress raises her fists against a middle-aged woman in bright pink Pakistani evening dress; more "Polite company"](https://fiilmi.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Box-office-Super-Mario-Bros-Evil-Dead-Rise-Thrive-Judy.jpg)
“polite company”
Parisa Taghizadeh
Focus, with early PVOD pullbacks and subsequent Peacock projections improving revenue potential, opened another Sundance 2023 title at a PTA below $1,000. British comedy “Polite Society” managed $800,000 in 927 theaters.
Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid” more than doubled in theaters to fall nearly 50% and failed to reach the top 10 with around $1.4 million. It amounts to 5.6 million dollars.
Of note among specialty titles: No film with more than four weeks in play has grossed. Even in the current difficult environment, this is exceptional.
Top 10
1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #1
$40,000,000 (-33%) in 4,204 (-146) theaters; PTA (average per venue): $9,515; Cumulative: $490,016,000
2. Evil Dead Rise (Warner Bros. Discovery) Week 2; Last weekend #2
$12,200,000 (-50%) in 3,417 (+15) theaters; APT: $3,570; Cumulative: $44,416,000
3. Are you there God? it’s me margarita (Lionsgate) NEW – Cinemascore: A; Metacritic: 86; East. budget: $
$6,800,000 in 3,343 theaters; APT: $2,034; Cumulative: $6,800,000
4. John Wick: Chapter 4 (Lionsgate) week 6; Last weekend #4
$5,000,000 (-14%) in 2,481 (-204) theaters; APT: $2,015; Cumulative: $176,155,000
5. Return of the Jedi (Disney) RERELEASE
$4,694,000 in 475 theaters; PTA: $988; Cumulative: (adjusted) $865,000,000
6. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (Priority) Week 5; Last weekend #6
$4,100,000 (-25%) in 2,709 (-251) theaters; APE: $1,513; Cumulative: $88,160,000
7. Aerial (MGM) week 4; Last weekend #5
$4,001,000 (-27%) at 2,402 (-421) theaters; APT: $1,666; Cumulative: $47,627,000
8. Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two (FDN) NEW – East. budget: $32 million
$3,645,000 in 600 theaters; APT: $6,076; Cumulative: $3,645,000
9. The Pact (MGM) Week 2; Last weekend #3
$3,615,000 (-43%) in 2,631 (+20) theaters; APE: $1,374; Cumulative: $12,294,000
10. Sisu (Lionsgate) NEW – Metacritic: 68; East. budget: $7 million
$3,250,000 in 1,006 theaters; APT: $3,230; Cumulative: $3,250,000
Other specialized titles
Movies (limited, limited release expansions, as well as awards-focused releases) are listed by week in release, starting with those open that week; after the first two weeks, only films with gross sales over $5,000 are listed.
The Eight Mountains (Sideshow/Janus) NEW – Metacritic: 81; Festivals include: Cannes 2022, Sundance 2023
$36,000 in 2 theaters; APT: $18,000
Polite company (Focus) NEW – Metacrit: 75; Festivals include: Sundance, South by Southwest 2023
$800,000 in 927 theaters; APE: $858
NMR (IFC) NEW – Metacritic: 81; Festivals include: Cannes, Toronto, New York 2022
$5,800 in 2 theaters; APT: $2,900
nuclear now (Abramorama) NEW – Metacritic: ; Festivals include: Venice 2022
$9,814 in 2 rooms; APT: $4,907
Knight (Spotlight) Week 2
$625,000 in 1,281 (+6) theaters; APT: $488; Cumulative: $2,778,000
Somewhere in Queens (Road Attractions) Week 2
$321,215 in 499 (-103) theaters; APT: $644; Cumulative: $1,304,000
Other people’s children (Music Box) Week 2
$14,895 in 7 (+4) theaters; APT: $2,128; Cumulative: $35,007
Carmen (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2
$10,122 in 11 (+9) in cinemas; APE: $920; Cumulative: $27,044
Handsome is scared (A24) Week 3
$1,433,000 in 2,125 (+1,153 theaters; PTA: $674; cumulative: $5,641,000
susume (Sony) Week 3
$535,000 in 440 (-1,730) theaters; Cumulative: $9,754,000
Wildlife (Picturehouse) Week 3
$56,318 in 13 (-1) theaters; Cumulative: $208,648
To show up (A24) Week 4
$78,590 in 115 (+30) theaters; Cumulative: $552,271
joyland (Oscilloscope) Week 4
$33,510 in 30 (+22) theaters; Cumulative: $134,298
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