“Super Mario Bros. Movie” smashes box office in 2nd weekend

Nintendo and Illumination”The Super Mario Bros. Movie” scored another crushing victory at the box office over the weekend, topping the charts for the second week in a row. Grayling Box Office Mojo, the film earned an additional $92.3 million over the weekend, bringing its current domestic total to $353 million and $692 million worldwide. The film will easily cross $700 million worldwide before the end of the day on Monday (April 17).

“Super Mario Bros. Movie” dominates the box office for the second week in a row

What’s even more impressive is the drop-off between the first and second weekends. The film only dropped about 37% in its second week of release. Big box office hits like this are usually very lenient, but the low drop-off indicates that the film is likely to have decent staying power at the box office.

At that rate, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” should have no trouble reaching $1 billion at the box office worldwide, if not higher. The film was the first major film in a Nintendo video game property since 1993’s much-maligned “Super Mario Bros.” live-action film starring the late Bob Hoskins as Mario, John Leguizamo as Luigi, and the late Dennis Hopper as King Koopa. The movie was a flop and was so bad that Nintendo wouldn’t allow any adaptations of its properties for years.

While the critics were relatively mixed in the video game movie, the audience loved and eventually accepted the movie. A good prediction for future collaborations between Nintendo, Illumination and Universal Pictures. Nintendo has also partnered with Universal Theme Parks, with Super Nintendo World opening at Universal Studios Hollywood earlier this year.

Elsewhere, “The Exorcist of the Pope,” starring Oscar winner Russell Crowe, was in second place, bringing in just $9 million. “John Wick: Chapter 4” added $8 million to No. 3, bringing its current domestic total to $160 million domestically and $340 million worldwide. It is the world’s highest-grossing “John Wick” movie to date. It should surpass “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”’s highest domestic total of $171 million in weeks.

New horror comedy “Renfield” had a rather soft opening at No. 4 over the weekend with just $8 million. The film boasted an entertaining concept: Oscar winner Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula, and Nicholas Hoult as his long-suffering acquaintance and servant, Renfield. The film’s reported budget is around $65 million, so it probably won’t break even.

It looks like the movie won’t have too much competition at the box office in the coming weeks until Marvel Studios and Disney release “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” on May 5. “Evil Dead Rise” hits theaters on April 21 from Warner Bros. This is the latest cinematic reboot of the famous “Evil Dead” horror film franchise. The last “Evil Dead” movie to open in theaters was the 2013 reboot, which had an opening weekend of $25 million in April 2013. Plus, it’s a different type and more mature audience than “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” So the forecast looks good for Mario and friends to score another blockbuster.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” will be released in Japan on April 28th. In the movie Chris Pratt Mario, Charlie Day Luigi, Jack Black Bowser, Anya Taylor-Joy. Princess Peach is voiced by Keegan-Michael Key as Toad and Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong. The film can now be seen in theaters in the United States