Box office: Super Mario Bros., Evil Dead Rise Thrive, Judy Blume lagging behind

“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.

“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”

“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).

“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

5. Return of the Jedi (Disney) RERELEASE

$4,694,000 in 475 theaters; PTA: $988; Cumulative: (adjusted) $865,000,000

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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