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‘Mario’ Tops Charts Again; ‘Beau Is Afraid’ Wins in Limited

This image released by Nintendo and Universal Studios shows Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, in Nintendo's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." (Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)
This image released by Nintendo and Universal Studios shows Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, in Nintendo's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." (Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)
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‘Mario’ Tops Charts Again; ‘Beau Is Afraid’ Wins in Limited

This image released by Nintendo and Universal Studios shows Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, in Nintendo's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." (Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)
This image released by Nintendo and Universal Studios shows Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, left, and Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, in Nintendo's "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." (Nintendo and Universal Studios via AP)

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie" scored the best second weekend ever for an animated movie in North American theaters with $87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The family-friendly Universal release dropped a slim 41% from its record-making opening weekend.

With $94 million from international showings, “Mario's” global total now stands at a staggering $678 million, surpassing “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” to become biggest film of 2023 in just two weekends.

“Mario” faced little major competition this weekend even with a slew of new national releases including “Renfield,” “The Pope’s Exorcist,” “Mafia Mamma” and the animated “Suzume.” It still has two weekends before “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” flies into theaters to jumpstart the summer moviegoing season.

Sony and Screen Gem's R-rated “The Pope’s Exorcist” starring Russell Crowe as the late Father Gabriele Amorth — the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome from 1986 to his death at 91 in 2016 — fared the best. It made an estimated $9.2 million from 3,178 locations.

Third place went to “John Wick: Chapter 4” in its fourth weekend with $7.9 million. The Lionsgate action pic has now made over $160.1 million domestically.

Universal's “Renfield,” the supernatural thriller starring Nicolas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as the title character, opened in fourth place with $7.7 million.

Ben Affleck’s Air Jordan origin story “Air” rounded out the top five, with $7.7 million in its second weekend to bring its total domestic earnings to $33.3 million.

Makoto Shinkai's PG-rated anime “Suzume,” released domestically by Sony with both dubbed and subtitled versions available, opened in 2,170 theaters and grossed an estimated $5 million in ticket sales.

A24 also debuted its new Ari Aster mind-bender “Beau is Afraid,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles where it made $320,396 over the weekend, boasting many sold out showings. The 3-hour odyssey from the director of horror favorites “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” expands nationwide on Friday.

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‘Sinners’ Bites Off Phenomenal 2nd Weekend as 20-year-old Star Wars Movie Takes 2nd Place

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows director-writer-producer Ryan Coogler, left, and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw on the set of "Sinners." (Eli Adé/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows director-writer-producer Ryan Coogler, left, and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw on the set of "Sinners." (Eli Adé/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
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‘Sinners’ Bites Off Phenomenal 2nd Weekend as 20-year-old Star Wars Movie Takes 2nd Place

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows director-writer-producer Ryan Coogler, left, and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw on the set of "Sinners." (Eli Adé/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows director-writer-producer Ryan Coogler, left, and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw on the set of "Sinners." (Eli Adé/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

Horror movies are often one-week wonders at the box office, but Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” is defying the odds and proving to be true event cinema.
In its second weekend in theaters, “Sinners” earned $45 million in ticket sales from theaters in the US and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s down a miniscule 6% from its Easter holiday launch, the smallest drop in any genre since “Avatar” in 2009. Worldwide, “Sinners” has now made $161.6 million.
For the industry, the showing proves the film's reach has broadened beyond horror fans to mainstream audiences wanting to see what the hype is about. Last weekend, men made up 56% of the audience. This weekend, the gender divide narrowed to 50/50. Premium large format showings, like the 70mm IMAX screens, are also a big draw. IMAX screens worldwide accounted for some 21% of the second weekend globally, a nearly 9% increase from last weekend.
The original ensemble movie, starring Michael B. Jordan as twins, rode into theaters on a wave of great reviews. And, to be fair, “Sinners” isn’t simply a horror film: It blends elements of drama, action and musical into its southern gothic milieu, The Associated Press reported.
“That’s one of the lowest second weekend holds for an overperforming wide release ever,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s an absolute phenomenon."
Hollywood expects significant drop off in a movie's second week of release. Even a 50% dip is considered a solid number, baked into the movie math. When it's anything less than that, it's notable.
“You can buy a great opening weekend with marketing, but if a movie doesn’t have the goods, it’ll drop off," Dergarabedian said. “There's no greater barometer of success than a second weekend hold like this."
The film was produced by Coogler’s Proximity Media and Warner Bros., which handled the theatrical release. After some disappointments earlier in the year, it's the second major win for the studio after “A Minecraft Movie” helped energize the box office earlier this month.
“Sinners” easily topped the biggest new competition this week: “The Accountant 2,” a sequel starring Ben Affleck and released by Amazon MGM Studios, which opened in third place with an estimated $24.5 million in its first weekend. Gavin O'Connor directed the film, which played in 3,610 theaters in North America. Audiences gave it a promising A- CinemaScore.
The film that beat “The Accountant 2” for second place was a 20-year-old Star Wars movie: “Revenge of the Sith.” The anniversary re-release took in an estimated $25.2 million over the weekend, with many sellouts reported, more than doubling last year’s release of “The Phantom Menace.” Internationally, it earned $17 million from 34 territories, giving it a $42.2 million global weekend. It's one of the top grossing re-releases ever.
“A Minecraft Movie” landed in fourth place with $22.7 million, bringing its domestic total to around $380 million.
The scary video game adaptation “Until Dawn” also opened this weekend to an estimated $8 million, rounding out the top five. Sony Pictures released the film, starring Ella Rubin and Michael Cimino, which has earned $18.1 million globally.
The “Minecraft” and “Sinners” wins have meant a huge boost for the April box office, which is up 102% from April 2024. The annual box office is also up over 10% from last year after running at a double-digit deficit in March. And this is all happening right before the industry’s summer movie season kicks off on May 2 with Disney’s “Thunderbolts(asterisk).”
“There cannot be a better opening act for the summer movie season than this weekend,” Dergarabedian said.