“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” achieved the high score at the domestic box office, earning a massive $58.23 million in its third weekend of release. The animated family film easily fended off this weekend’s new releases, including a promising start for supernatural horror sequel “Evil Dead Rise” and tepid debuts for action-war thriller “Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant” and A24’s anxiety-inducer “Beau Is Afraid.”
After three weeks on the big screen, “Mario” has grossed $434.33 million in North America and $871 million globally to stand even higher as the biggest movie of the year. Those ticket sales, down just 37% from the weekend prior, rank as the highest third weekend ever for an animated film domestically (surpassing 2018’s “Incredibles 2” with $46.4 million in its third weekend of release) and the seventh-biggest third weekend of all time (overtaking 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $56 million in its third weekend of release).
More from Variety
‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Powers to $871 Million Globally, Nears $1 Billion
Why the New Studio Math — and the New Indie Cred — Won’t Let ‘Beau Is Afraid’ Be a Bomb
Box Office: ‘Evil Dead Rise’ Lands Groovy $10.3 Million Opening Day, ‘Mario Bros.’ Still 1-Upping Newcomers
Though “Super Mario Bros. Movie” steamrolled the competition, the R-rated “Evil Dead Rise” managed to collect a solid $23.5 million from 3,402 North American theaters in its debut. The film added $16.8 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $40.3 million. The blood-soaked thriller, from Warner Bros. and New Line, cost $15 million to produce and was originally intended to release on HBO Max before getting a traditional theatrical release.
“Evil Dead Rise,” a gory story about two estranged sisters who attempt to save their family from demonic creatures, has generated pretty good reviews and landed a so-so “B” CinemaScore from audiences. It’s the fifth entry in the long-running film series, which began with Sam Raimi’s 1981 low-budget thriller “The Evil Dead.” The latest installment is the first new entry in the series in 10 years, following 2013’s “Evil Dead” reboot, which grossed $97.5 million on its $17 million budget.
Story continues
In third place, “Guy Ritchie’s the Covenant” opened in line with (albeit disappointing) expectations, bringing in a paltry $6.28 million from 2,611 theaters. The war thriller, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier returning to Afghanistan to save his interpreter, has stellar reviews and an “A” CinemaScore to match, but it’s a tough box office environment for dramas aimed at adult audiences — and “The Covenant” wasn’t able to become an exception to the trend. Among opening weekend ticket buyers for the war thriller were 58% male and nearly 30% were over the age of 55.
“Reviews are very good and foreign business should be solid, but we’re coming off a strong run of sharply defined, high-concept releases,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “That’s leaving less room for a title like this to find its place.”
Elsewhere, the Joaquin Phoenix-led “Beau Is Afraid” stumbled as it expanded its theater count, landing in ninth place with $2.7 million from 965 venues. After a solid start in limited release, the head-trip from director Ari Aster has generated $3.1 million to date. It cost $35 million, so it’ll need to sustain momentum — and then some — in the coming weeks to justify that budget.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” and Ben Affleck’s sports drama “Air” rounded out the top five.
The fourth “John Wick” movie added $5.75 million from 2,685 venues in its fifth weekend of release, bringing its domestic tally to $168.88 million. It’s overtaken the global total for 2019’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” ($328 million) to become the highest earner of the Keanu Reeves-led action franchise.
“Air” took fifth place with $5.5 million from 2,823 theaters. To date, the Amazon film has earned $41.2 million at the domestic box office and $54 million worldwide. Those are decent ticket sales for a comedic drama aimed at older audiences. But “Air” was expensive, costing $130 million to make and market, so it’ll struggle to turn a profit in theaters. However, the movie is landing on Prime Video with more buzz than it would have gotten without a theatrical run. For Amazon, that kind of promotion may be enough to count as a win.
Best of Variety
This ‘Fast and Furious’ Arcade Cabinet Allows You to Step Behind the Wheel as Dom Toretto
From ‘The Shards’ to ‘Daisy Jones & The Six’: Books Made Into Movies and TV Series That You Should Read
Emmy Predictions: TV Movie – ‘Fire Island’ and ‘Reality’ Bring Fresh Takes to the Category
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Click here to read the full article.